Conan the Vengeful
by Flip62
Summary: Conan seeks vengence on those who have wronged him!Please feel free to comment on this story.
1. Chapter 1

Conan the Vengeful

Chapter I

This is a story based on the character and world of Conan of Cimmeria, the brainchild of Robert E. Howard. It is a story of fiction written for the enjoyment of the reader and is in no way meant to be used for personal monetary gain. All characters used in this story, with the exception of Conan are my own. Most of the places named in this story are also mine, but not all.

This story is based on the novelized version of Conan, NOT the Arnold Schwarzenegger version from the movies or the version from that pathetic television show of a few years ago, neither of which follow the chronology of the Conan novels.

This story takes place between the events in "Lord of the Black River" and "Conan the Rouge. At the time of this story, Conan is about 40 years old and has traveled the lands of the Hyborian world for many years. He has just left the town of Baalur in Shem and is on his way to Belverus in Nemedia, traveling thru an area of vast canyons, large mountains and barren desert.

After reading this little tale, please feel free to submit a review of this story.

For now, sit back, relax and enjoy the journey!

The sun had already risen high in the sky, the heat of the day already made the horizon shimmer before a man's eyes. In this part of the desert, few were the creatures that stirred in the midday heat. Yet on this day, the desert was full of activity.

A long line of mounted men, a hundred in all, rode along in groups of three, each group rode abreast of those on either of them, staying just within sight of each other. The long line of horsemen stretched for nearly a league, the sun reflected off their armor and weapons as they sweep forward. It was an impressive sight, had anyone been there to see it.

At the center of the long line, a large knot of riders could be seen talking amongst themselves. At the center of this group rode General Sarpidon, commander of the armies of Savaria and leader of Golden Cobras, the personal guard of King Arion, Lord of Savaria. Even thou the people of this part of the great desert grew tall and lean with dark skin and thick black hair, Sarpidon looked almost alien amongst these fierce warriors. He was half a head taller then any man of the kingdom, with broad shoulders and a thick, powerful chest that tapered smoothly to a thin waist and flat, hard stomach that rippled with muscle. His arms were long and powerful, larger then the legs of most full grown men with wrists made thick by many years of wielding the massive sword that hung at his hip. He sat very erect in his saddle of his large, grey warhorse, further dwarfing those around him.

One of those riding with Sarpidon leaned over from his own large brown mount and spoke to the General, "Tis hotter then Gorama's fiery realm today my lord. Perhaps it would be best to make camp and wait out the heat of the day?"

Sarpidon's gaze never left the horizon, but he spoke to his officer a voice that could only be heard by the one man, "That may be the wisest thing to do Roga my friend, but I will not sit in shaded comfort so long as Queen Deverra and Princess Soraya are missing. We shall continue our search until they are found."

Roga winced at the inflection in his commander's voice, but understood its roots. Sarpidon and Soraya were to be married upon her return to the kingdom. Now he rode thru the desert searching for her missing caravan. Soraya and her mother had gone with a diplomatic envoy to the neighboring kingdom of Halidon, which was sent to try and bring about a peaceful solution to the centuries old dispute over the border between the two kingdoms. Savaria had maintained that the boarder was the Triastia River, where the Halidonians insisted the true boarder was the Palisara River, nearly three leagues farther west then the Triastia. For over two hundred years, this had been the cause for dozens of battles between the two sovereignties.

The prize that these two kingdoms sought to win was a long stretch of land between the two rivers. This narrow strip of land was by far the most rich and fertile in either kingdom. Those who farmed this land, known to all as the "Green Belt", were able to produce twice the amount of crops as could those people that farmed either side of the river. This made that swath of land extremely valuable to both kingdoms. At the present time, Savaria held claim to the area. It had been so since King Arion led his army against the Halidonian garrison stationed there twelve years before. Ever since then, Halidonian raiding parties had continuously crossed the Triastia, stealing food, burning crops, murdering the farmers and taking the women and children as slaves. At times these raiding parties would be caught and the members hanged at a special gallows built especially for them near the main road bridge that connected the two lands.

King Arion had decided to send this envoy in the hope of ending these raids and thus, avoiding the possibility of yet another war. The queen and princess gone along to show that King Arion was sincere in his quest for peace between their lands. So, two hundred of the Kings personal bodyguards, the Golden Cobras, were sent as escort for the royal caravan. Now, three days late retuning to Savaria, Sarpidon had set out with one hundred of the Golden Cobras to search for them.

"You push the men hard old friend." said an older officer. Sarpidon cast a glance to his right to see Captain Metabus, his second in command and best friend. "If you continue push them, they will begin to fall to the sand from exhaustion. We have had no sleep and little rest since we left Savaria. Even you begin to slump in the saddle! All of us need ….. "

Metabus's words were cut off by the sound of a distant horn being sounded. All heads turned toward the sound of the horn, and there they saw the flashing of the sun being reflected from a number of small, polished copper mirrors used as signals by the members of the Golden Cobras. Sarpidon eyes immediately locked on to the single rider racing toward them from the direction of the signal. The messenger reigned up in front of Sarpidon, dismounted in a single, fluid motion and took a knee before his commander. The young soldier was out of breath as he began to make his report.

"My lord, Lieutenant Tallius begs to report he has spotted a large number of vultures circling over the hills to the south. He also bids me to tell his lordship that he is riding forth with ten men to investigate."

Sarpidon's gaze moved to the hills indicated by the messenger as if he would be able to see what was there.

"Trumpeter! Sound the assembly!" he ordered. "As soon as the rest of the men are assembled, bring them along swiftly my friend. The rest of you here, follow me!"

Without any further words or even a backward glance, Sarpidon spurred his mount forward and raced off to the south, his officers and men charging after him. Ill thoughts ran thru his minds eye. Images of his beloved Soraya being kidnapped by bandits or lying in a pool of her own blood. Shaking these thoughts from his mind, Sarpidon spurred his mount forward, trying to coax more speed from his already exhausted horse.


	2. Chapter 2

Conan the Vengeful

Chapter II

As Sarpidon reigned in his lathered horse, a horrid sight assailed his eyes. Spread out before him lay the butchered and bloody bodies of nearly two hundred Savarian soldiers and more then three times that number of Halidonians. A pitched battle had taken place there between the two forces, perhaps a day or two before judging from the stench and the number of scavengers that were evident amongst the dead. Sarpidon scanned the battlefield with both sadness and a raging fury at seeing so many fine soldiers left to rot in the desert like that. Someone would pay for this massacre, by all the gods; someone would pay dearly for this!

As he looked about, Sarpidon found the item he most wanted to find, the royal carriage. His heart began to sink as he approached the broken remains of the carriage, one wheel had been knocked off its axle, both doors had been ripped of their hinges and the interior had been ransacked. But the worst thing was the blood splattered inside the coach and the small pool of blood just outside the door.

"Am I too late?" Sarpidon thought to himself.

Just then the sound of men shouting and the ring of sword play reached his ears. The sounds came from a small gully not far from the remains of the royal carriage. As Sarpidon started to ride toward the mouth of the gully, he noticed a piece of blood stained cloth lying near by. He recognized it as part of Soraya's royal robes. Seeing this added fuel to the fire of vengeance that already blazed in his heart.

As he rounded the final bend in the gully, Sarpidon came face to face with a sight that nearly froze his blood!

The gully opened up into a small canyon where there were a number of outcroppings jutting out from the walls and in several places, large boulders laid where they had fallen untold centuries ago. Several caves could also be seen near the back of the small valley, but none of this was noticed by Sarpidon however because his attention was focused on a small hill that lead up to one of the cave openings. Surrounding this hill was a mound of bodies as high as a mans chest in places and spread out in an arc around its base. Most of the bodies were those of Halidonian soldiers, but among the dead were the bodies of five of his own men! But what truly made his skin crawl was the man that stood at the center of all that carnage. At first glance one would think they looked upon some demon that had risen straight from the bowels of hell, but this was no creature of the fiery realm. This beast of a man was very tall, taller then even Sarpidon himself. His shoulders were broader and his chest thicker then any man Sarpidon had ever seen in his life. The arms and legs of this giant warrior rippled with hard, lean muscle under skin burnt dark brown by long exposure to the sun. The hair on his head was black as the night and was cropped off at the shoulder.

But it was the eyes of the man that froze the marrow of Sarpidon's bones, eyes of the purest, crystal blue, like the ice he had once seen in the mountains far to the north. Eyes that at that moment held no human warmth or compassion, just pure animalistic rage!

He stood on a low mound in the middle of all the dead, leaning on a massive broadsword which was stained red with blood and gore, telling the story of the slaughter that had been rote there. To Sarpidon, this beast of a man might well be impossible to kill, for he bore a number of deep, bloody wounds, two of which Sarpidon knew were from crossbows since the bolts were still lodged in the mans left shoulder and right thigh.

As Sarpidon dismounted, a sergeant ran up and saluted his commander. Before the man could speak however, Sarpidon began demanding answers!

"Who or what is that?" he yelled, pointing at the blood covered beast of a man. "Where is Lieutenant Tallius? Where are the queen and princess? Are they in one of those caves?"

Sarpidon continued to yell questions at the dumbfounded sergeant until finally the man found his tongue and was able to respond.

"Lieutenant Tallius is dead my lord. His body lies there before the demon!"

Sarpidon looked to the spot the sergeant indicated and found what had at one time been Lieutenant Tallius. Sarpidon turned to the sergeant and in the voice of the calm veteran soldier he was asked, "What happened here Ledu? Who is that man?"

"I know not who he is my lord. We came upon him here and when we tried to capture him, he went berserk! Rega and Baklor were killed by the first stroke, then he cleft Lieutenant Tallius's head all the way down to his chest!" the sergeant said with a tinge of horror. "He cut down two more of number before we could fall back. Tis a demon we face here, not a man! No man born of a woman could move so fast or have such strength as that thing! How else could it still be standing before us after we put two crossbow shafts into it?"

Sarpidon looked from the sergeant to the man on the mound. The man stood as still as a statue, only the rise and fall of his chest and the small flow of blood from the multitude of wounds gave any indication that this was a living, breathing being of flesh and blood. To the sergeant Sarpidon asked, "How many men do you have left?"

The sergeant's eyes dropped to the ground and he said in a voice laden with grief, "Only myself and two others are still fit to fight my lord. Three others lay yonder with horrible wounds. I fear death will claim all three before nightfall." Sarpidon looked over at the three wounded men and knew the sergeant spoke the truth.

Looking back to the grizzly specter on the mound, he spoke to the sergeant, "Gather your men and spread out in front of him. Not too close! I don't want to provoke him. Just make sure he doesn't try to escape before the rest of our men arrive."

The sergeant nodded his to Sarpidon and did as he was bid to do. The sergeant and his two remaining men moved into position on either flank, cutting off any escape. The giant form never moved a muscle, only ice blue eyes following their movements gave any indication that this was a living creature. Once the three men were in position, Sarpidon stepped directly in front of the stranger. He didn't draw his sword, but rested his hand lightly on the hilt.

Still no movement by the giant stranger.

Slowly, Sarpidon moved closer to the motionless form, never taking his eyes the massive, blood caked broadsword which the man leaned on. The men on his flanks also moved in slowly, weapons drawn and at the ready. Sarpidon stopped half a dozen paces from the base of the mound and regarded the site before him in horror …… and wonder! All around the small hill, the bodies of the dead lay heaped one upon another in piles as high as Sarpidon's chest. Some of the bodies were missing arms, legs, even heads! At his feet lay what had once been Lieutenant Tallius. He had been split like a piece of cordwood, from the crown of his head to the middle of his belly, no doubt the work of the great sword and the demon of death that wielded it. Sarpidon stepped over the body and continued forward toward the mound. At its foot, he was no more then a handful of paces from the stranger, staring up at a living nightmare. The statue that was a man finally moved! He raised his chin from his chest and was looking down upon Sarpidon with those eyes, eyes so blue they could be made of ice and yet they burned with a hellfire so hot, it could melt a mans soul. His grip on the great blade had also tightened, though it still rested on the blood soaked ground at his feet.

To Sarpidon's right, the soldier there saw the giant stranger look up at Sarpidon. Seeing the huge hand tighten its grip on the hilt of the sword, the soldier, believing his commander's life was in peril, he reacted on instinct. He charged up the mound to attack. The stranger's head turned toward the on rushing soldier who was just two paces away with his sword raised, ready to strike down the giant.

In the time it took for him to take those last two steps, none of those present would truly be able to say what they had witnessed.

As the charging soldier's blade began its downward arc, the huge broadsword sprang up from the dirt, propelled by the massive arms and shoulders of the giant on the mound. Even though the soldier's blade was of the finest quality and quite heavy, it snapped like a twig when struck by the great broadsword. The giant blade continued it deadly arc as if it had never struck the other sword, moving with such great speed, the eye could not truly register its flight. The stranger never slowed, pivoting on his left foot, he brought the broadsword around, taking the soldier at waist level. The great blade never slowed as it cut thru the man's light chain mail, flesh, bones, and organs. Before he even realized what had just happened, the hapless soldier staggered two more steps before the top half of his body fell the earth!

The stranger continued his turn till he faced Sarpidon and the other two soldiers who stood frozen with shock by what they had just witnessed. Now the slayer stood facing them, sword held at waist level, dripping blood from their unfortunate, foolish comrade. Sarpidon regained his senses and turned to see the sergeant and the other soldier advancing on the murderous fiend.

"Hold your place's dogs or I'll cut you down myself!" Sarpidon roared. "I want this beast alive. We'll wait till the rest of the regiment arrives."

The sergeant and his companion backed away slowly, their eyes never leaving the giant stranger on the mound.

Sarpidon turned back to the stranger, and spoke to him in his most authoritative voice, "Drop your weapon and give yourself over to us. I have over a hundred men riding this way as we speak. You have no chance of escape. If you do not do as I say, you will die most slowly! Sarpidon took a step closer and said, "I promise your death will be swift and painless if you tell me what happened to the women in this caravan you and your men raided."

At that the stranger threw back his head and began to laugh, but there was no humor is this. Sarpidon took two steps back at the sight before him. Then to his utter amazement, this stranger, deadly giant spoke!

"Do not throw my lot in with these dogs!" he said in strangely accented Kothian as he kicked one of the dead Halidonians. "I had no part in raiding this caravan! As for the women, know you this, they are under my protection. If you have a mind to take them by force, then have at it! I'll take more then a few of your city breed dogs to hell with me!" And that being said, the huge stranger began to advance on Sarpidon.

Then, just as the giant stranger raised his broadsword to strike, the voice of a terrified female cried out! "Conan! No! Stop!"

The great blade stopped in mid-strike, a hands breath from striking Sarpidon's, as all eyes turned to the mouth of the large cave at the far end of the canyon, where a small figure appeared. A woman, in truth, not much more then a girl, emerged and began running toward the two men.

"Conan, it's alright! These are my father's men. They have come to rescue us!" the girl said as she approached the stranger. She put her small, soft hand on the huge arm of her protector and said to him, "This is Sarpidon, my fathers most trusted officer. He has come to rescue us!"

Looking down at the tiny young woman, with her dirty, blood smeared face; Conan began to see thru the red rage of battle. He lowered his sword, keeping it at the ready, and allowed himself to relax somewhat. Then he asked Sarpidon, "If you are her father's men, why did these dogs attack me without making themselves known?"

Sarpidon turned to the sergeant and asked, "Did not Lieutenant Tallius identify himself and state his purpose?"

The sergeant, not knowing what to say, shrugged his shoulders and confessed, "I know not whether he did or not my lord, I was searching the main battlefield for survivors when the Lieutenant came upon this man."

Sarpidon nodded his head and turned to Conan, "It would seem my subordinate was out of line when he attacked you. He was young and not all that experienced."

Conan looked down at the body of the young Lieutenant and said, "He won't have a chance to learn from his mistake." He then looked back to Sarpidon, who stood with his blade at his side, and asked, "You will take the girl and her mother home?"

Sarpidon nodded saying, "I was charged by King Arion to find them and bring them home."

"Very well!" Conan said as he drove the blade of his blood soaked broadsword into the ground next to where he stood and said, "I place them and their safety in your hands!" And with that said, the world faded to black as Conan finally collapsed to the ground.


	3. Chapter 3

Conan the Vengeful

Chapter III

Daylight flooded the room and the smell of a variety of flowers floated on the breeze as conciseness returned to Conan. He sat up abruptly only to fall back on the cushioned pallet he found himself on. After a few moments, he sat up again, much more slowly this time however! He felt exhausted, still weakened by his injuries and the loss of blood incurred during the battle of the past day. How long ago that day had been he knew not.

He looked around the spacious room he was in and remembered nothing of how he got there. He worn naught but a clean, white loincloth and his wounds had been cleaned and bound with expert care. There was a large tray of fruit and what appeared to be a pitcher of water and one of wine sitting on a small table next to the pallet he was laying on. Conan realized that it had been several days since he had had anything to eat and was in need of food. He swung his legs over the edge of the pallet, placing his feet wide on the cool marble tile on the floor. A wave of dizziness struck him, but he managed to stay seated upright. When the vertigo had passed, Conan took up the pitcher of water and began gulping it down, spilling half of it down his chest. Having emptied the pitcher of water, he turned his attention to the wine. He poured a cup full of the cool, rich red liquid and downed it in two gulps. Feeling somewhat better, he placed his hands on the edge of the pallet and attempted to stand. It became quite obvious to him that he was not yet ready for that, so he sat back on the edge of the pallet. He poured another cup of wine and drank half quickly. Taking a deep breath, he tried once more to stand.

Though a wave of dizziness struck him and he wavered on the edge of collapse, Conan managed to remain upright. He steadied himself with a bit of effort, then after a moment he took a tentative step forward. Conan's vision suddenly clouded as the room seemed to tilt to one side. He reached for the table for support, but instead found a muscular arm reaching across his chest, keeping him from crashing to the floor.

Conan turned his head to find that the person who had caught him was none other then Sarpidon!

He helped Conan back to his pallet and chuckled, "Here now my friend, you should not try to move around like that. It has only been two days since we were able to bring you to the healers. By the gods, you are a hard man to kill!" Conan laid back into the plush cushions, exhausted from the effort of trying to walk. He laughed and said, "Tis true that I am hard to kill, though a great many have tried! Cimmerians have never been easy to kill." It was then that Conan noticed the other people that had entered the room with Sarpidon.

There stood the girl, Saraya, looking spectacular in a light blue gown of what looked to be silk, with the blood, dirt and grime of the desert having been washed away, she looked more womanly now then she had that day in the desert. Her lustrous, black hair was pulled back and braided into a long, thick rope that hung down past her waist. Her skin was tanned brown and her eyes were a glistening shade of green. Though hardly coming up to Conan's chin, she had long, shapely legs, well rounded hips, a small waist with a flat, supple tummy, and full, firm breasts. She defiantly did not look like the young girl she had before!

Standing next to her was her mother, Queen Deverra. She was an older version of her daughter, looking very elegant in a pale green silk gown, despite the fact she sported a large bandage on her head. She had received a large gash on the back of her head during the attack on her caravan. Both women smiled at Conan.

Standing next to the queen was a man Conan did not recognize. He was of middle years and average height but very thick chested with shoulders nearly as wide as Conan. A number of old scars were visible on his face, arms and legs. His forearms and wrists were very thick, made so no doubt by many years of wielding the heavy bladed sword that hung at his hip. Conan knew this man had been a warrior at one time. He wore a simple gold circlet on his head which held his long, black and grey hair in place. This Conan assumed was King Arion, for he had the most regal bearing of any man Conan had ever seen. He too was smiling at Conan.

"How fair you warrior?" asked Arion. "Seems you've recovered far better then our healers believed possible."

"I'm still a ways from my best, but in a few more days, I should be back to normal!" Conan said as he sat up on the pallet. "I take it I'm not to be executed since few people would go to such lengths to keep a condemned man alive."

At this, the king roared with laughter, his grin going from ear to ear. "My friend, you are a hero! My wife and daughter have related the story of how you saved them, or at least that part of the story they knew, but tell me stranger, how is it you came upon my wife's caravan?"

Turning to a group of servants standing to the side of the room, the king motioned for them to bring chairs for he and his wife and daughter. Three chairs were immediately placed near Conan's pallet and the three royals sat. Sarpidon stood behind Arion and Saraya. Taking a deep pull on his wine cup, Conan began telling his tale.

"I was on my way north, heading for Nemedia. Word is that a war is brewing there. I had a mind to join one of the mercenary companies forming there. Having served as everything from a foot soldier to a general in command of vast armies, I knew I could find service with a wise mercenary captain with plenty of gold."

Arion nodded his head, knowing this to be true.

Conan took another drink from his wine cup and continued. "As I made my way across the desert, I saw a large cloud of dust rising from the hills not far off. I was curious as to what could be causing this, so I rode to the top of a ridge to have a look." Conan drank down the last of the wine from his cup then refilled it from the pitcher. After taking another long draft, he resumed his story.

"I found a place above the canyon where I could observe the goings on below without being seen myself. There I found your guardsman and those from Halidon engaged in a pitched battle. I tell you now; your men fought well, but outnumbered as they were, it was obvious they would lose the battle. There were just far too many Halidonians!"

Arion nodded and asked, "Then they died honorably?"

Conan nodded to the king and told him, "They fought as well as any soldiers I've ever seen! I would gladly have led such men into battle."

Arion straightened in his chair and said, "Then they died as heroes! They will be so honored. Please continue."

After drinking more wine, Conan continued. "As I said before, I was on my way to Nemedia when I came upon your people. Since I had no stake in the outcome, I decided to make my way around the fighting so as not to get involved, but just as I was about to leave, I see your wife's carriage being dragged toward a small side canyon. That was when I heard a woman's scream!" Conan took another drink and went on.

"I turned back to see what was happening and saw a group of Halidonian soldiers pull a woman from the carriage and throw her to the ground." Conan looked at the queen. She sat staring at the floor, unable to look at him. The king, sensing her pain, reached over and took her hand. She gave him a grateful smile and turned to Conan.

"I'm sorry. It is a difficult thing to remember. Please continue."

Conan glanced to the king who gave a slight nod. And so he continued.

"As I said, I heard a scream and then saw the queen being pulled from the carriage." He looked directly at her and said, "She did not go easily. She struck one of her attackers full in the face with a fist and landed a solid kick to the groin of another before she was struck down from behind with the hilt of a sword by one of the cowardly dogs!"

The queen gently touched the bandage that covered the wound on her head and said, "It seems that I will have a small reminder of that day for awhile, but thanks to you, my daughter and I still have our lives. We owe you a great debt."

To this Conan merely shrugged his shoulders and said, "I may be a barbarian, but I will never stand ideally by and watch a woman be brutalized."

Arion stared at Conan with an expression that was full of both surprise and respect! "I find it somewhat strange that a barbarian would follow such a code of honor."

"Honor is not just for so called "civilized" people. I've traveled to many lands where the people live in huts made of sticks and mud or caves and they know more of honor then any ten city breed dogs!" Conan said passionately.

Arion smiled and nodded at this. "Tis as true a thing as I've ever heard. Continue your story Conan."

"Well, I started riding down from my ledge, figuring I could ride up on the dogs swiftly and snatch up the queen and escape up the far side of the canyon before they knew what was happening. I had just made my way down to the bottom of the canyon when I seen two of the cowards drag the princess from the carriage and carry her away down a side canyon. The other dogs left the queen lying in the dirt so as to join the others with the princess."

Conan looked at the princess and found the young girl had replaced the woman again. She sat full upright with her hands folded in her lap. Her face was flushed from the memories of what happened that day. Sarpidon placed a hand on her slender shoulder for support. Then the girl disappeared and the woman returned. Her head held high, eyes locked onto Conan's, she bid him to continue. Conan nodded and picked up where he had left off.

"I rode past the carriage and followed the Halidonian vermin down the side canyon, hoping to get the girl back. I found them a short distance ahead. Three of the dogs stood by watching as two of them held the girl down. Another of them kneeled down next to her and began cutting away her clothing."

The princess's face was beet red from both anger and embarrassment as she relived the events in her minds eye. Tears began to well up in her eyes at the memory of the attack. Sarpidon bent over and said softly, "Perhaps you should not hear this Soraya."

"No, I'll be fine." Said the princess, even though her face told a different story. She looked at Conan and said, "Continue your tale Conan!"

Conan nodded to her and returned to the events of the rescue.

"As I said, the Halidonian dogs were so busy with the girl; they never heard me ride up on them. I was able to shear the head off one of the watchers while knocking the other two off their feet with the momentum of my horse. One of them went head long into the side of the canyon, cracking his head like an egg. The other one's back had snapped in half from the impact of my horse."

Conan took a long pull from his wine cup and went on with his story.

"When they heard the commotion caused by my arrival, the three men holding the princess turned as one and came to their feet, releasing the girl. It was a fatal mistake on their part, for the princess was able to roll out from under them and regain her feet. The man to her left pulled a dagger from his belt and made to stab her, but she twisted away from the clumsy attacker, grabbed his wrist and forced his own blade into his chest. Then she shoved him aside. The dog lay in the dirt, clutching at the dagger as his life's blood ran out. It was an amazing thing to see!"

"Our people here in Savaria, men and women alike are trained in hand to hand combat starting at a young age." Arion said. "My daughter went through the same training that all the others did."

"I'd say the girl learned her lessons well!" Conan quipped.

"That she did. So what happened next after you rode down the vermin and freed my daughter?" Arion asked, his interest in this strange man's story compelling him to ask.

"Let me see, oh yes! The man that had been holding her down on the right tried a clumsy attack on me with his sword which I parried easily and with my back swing; I removed his head from his shoulders. There was only one Halidonian left, the one that had been cutting away the girl's clothes. He had regained his feet and taken hold of a spear that one of his comrades had dropped. I knew my luck would not hold for much longer, and it was at this time it failed. The man threw the spear with great force and accuracy, sending it thru my thigh and into the side of my horse. The poor beast wailed in pain as it dropped to the ground with me pinned to it. I readied myself for the follow up attack, but it never came. The princess had grabbed another spear and buried it in the Halidonians back so that it stood out a hands span from his chest!"

Conan turned to the princess, "I never did thank you for what you did. That dog may well have done me some harm had you not taken care of him as you did!"

"It would have been rude if I let that swine kill the man who had just saved me." She said with a wry smile.

Conan smiled at the princess, then continued with his tale.

"I managed to break off the shaft of the spear and tied a piece of cloth over the wound just as the battle began to spill over into the canyon we were in. Your men fought fiercely against the overwhelming tide of Halidonians. Several of your soldiers sporting wounds of various degrees were being helped away from the fighting and toward the far end of the canyon as was he queen. It was plain for me to see your men would be overrun soon; there were simply too many Halidonians. And despite the fact they were well trained, there was no one in command, and so there was no coordinated defense. So I decided to take command!"

The king and Sarpidon were both surprised at this! The king moved to the edge of his seat and asked, "And how did my men react? Did they follow your commands?"

"Some did while others were not sure what to do. Still others moved to attack me, not knowing who I was or which side of the fight I was on. The princess was able to convince them to follow my lead."

"Amazing! So what happened then?" Arion asked excitedly, like a child listening to the war stories of an old soldier.

"I told them to pull back to the far end of the canyon where I had noticed it narrowed down to perhaps two paces in width."

"Brilliant! The king said. "You nullified there larger numbers by forcing them to attack through such a small opening. They couldn't bring more then three or four men at you at a time!"

"That's right!" Conan said as he poured the last of the wine into his cup and downed it in one gulp. The king motioned to one of the servants to bring more wine and some food. Conan hadn't realized until then how hungry he was.

"You are hungry are you not?" the king asked.

"I could eat a whole stag right now!" Conan replied heartily.

They all laughed at this. The king then said, "I don't know if we have a stag about, but I'm sure the cook's will find something to your liking. In the mean time, why don't you finish your story, I find it fascinating!"

"There is little more to tell, after all your soldiers retreated beyond the place where the canyon narrowed, we found that it opened up into a small valley with a number of small caves near the far end. There were only about a score of soldiers left and most of those were injured. I told the princess to take the wounded into a cave and stay out of site. This left only six men and myself to guard the pass, so we took up station with three men on each side and me in the middle."

The servant returned with a fresh pitcher of wine and a platter full of breads, fruits and cheese, saying the meat was not ready yet. Conan wasted no time and began devouring the food.

The king and queen both looked on with amused expressions on their faces. Sarpidon shook his head in disbelief at the sight before him. He found it hard to believe that this man could be sitting here eating like this just three days after being so near death. What an amazing man this Conan was. The princess stared at him with awe. She couldn't believe this man could survive such hideous wounds and still live. And even thou she had seen him in action with her own two eyes, she still found it hard to believe that any man could move with such speed or fight with such strength and ferocity as Conan had displayed.

It was not long before Conan had taken the edge off his hunger. While he was sating him hunger, he noticed a an older man in long, green robes approach the king and begin speaking to him in hushed tones. After a few moments, the man bowed and left. This done, the king turned back to Conan.

"So my friend, what happened next?"

"The Halidonians were very wise, they didn't rush in as I would have expected, but chose to regroup just beyond the passage. An officer made his way to the head of the pass and said to us, "Drop your weapons and surrender or we will take you by force!"

"By what right do you attack these people dog?" I challenged.

"Who are you to ask anything barbarian dog? Drop your weapons and surrender and I promise your deaths will be quick and painless. Resist and you will suffer much pain before you ……"

"He never finished his threats, not after I put my dagger through his throat. The fool stood clutching at it for several moments before the life finally drained from him. When they saw their leader dispatched in such a manner, the cowards brought forward a pair of bowmen with crossbows. They leveled them directly at me and fired. I tried to dive to the side but there aim, thou not perfect, was good enough to hit me in the shoulder and leg. I managed to roll up onto my feet just as they charged the narrow opening."

"And were you overrun then?" asked Arion, still hanging on the edge of his seat.

"Not right away, we held for a short while. I tell you this, even thou there was but six of them, those few soldiers fought like ten times their number, but even with the advantage of position and having hold of the high ground, it did not take long for the sheer weight of numbers to over balance the scales against us."

A look of profound sadness moved across Conan's face as he continued, "The last to fall was just a boy, not more then sixteen years of age."

That must have been Silvino. He had just passed his trials and was on his first mission." Sarpidon said sadly. "I didn't think anything dangerous would happen on that mission, so I allowed him to go."

"He gave a good account of himself during the battle." Conan told them. "He sent half a dozen Halidonians to hell before he was taken down by four of the dogs. Even thou he had been mortally wounded, the boy managed to slay two of his murderers before death claimed him. He might have left here a boy, but he died as well as any man could hope to by Crom!"

"He was the son of second in command, what you have told me of his son's death will ease Metabus's grief." Sarpidon said. "He will be relieved to hear that his son deid honorably."

The king nodded his head in agreement, then turned to Conan and asked him to continue.

"We managed to push them back for a few moments, but they regrouped quickly and made another go at us. At that point in the battle, there were only two of us left to defend the pass, myself and a young soldier by the name of Garai."

"I know this man Garai; he's a very good soldier. I had thoughts of promoting him. Did he survive?" Sarpidon asked.

He did, but he was badly wounded during the fighting near the mouth of the pass. He was able to crawl clear of the fighting and was helped to the cave by the princess." Conan told them.

"So, they attacked you again and the two of you held the pass?" Arion asked.

"Yes, until Garai fell, after that, I was left to deal with them alone."

"How did you hold out against them alone?" Sarpidon asked. "Surely they would have tried to take you down with superior numbers."

"At first they did try and rush me, but I held the high ground and with all the bodies of the dead and dying piled up around the mound I was on, they could not get to me without slipping and stumbling." He told them.

"So, did you kill all of those dogs of Halidonia?" Sarpidon asked.

"No, not all. They made several attempts to over take me, but to no avail. Any foolish enough to come within reach, I feed them cold steel!" Conan said gleefully.

Arion and Sarpidon both nodded at this, understanding thoroughly what he meant.

"After their last failed attempt, they pulled back to the other end of the pass and began to argue amongst themselves. Some of them wanted to try again to overpower me and get the queen and princess while others wanted to leave, saying they had lost too many men already. It was then that a man on horseback rode up and began yelling about something. After a few moments, they all turned and ran back to the main canyon. Then I heard a number of horses riding away.

"They must have spotted our troops approaching." Sarpidon said.

"You might have the right of that. All I know is that had they come at me once more, they may have prevailed." Conan said.

"So, tell me why you killed Lieutenant Tallius and his men." The king asked, his face a mask of seriousness and his eyes glaring into the soul of the Cimmerian.

Conan met his glare with one of his own, "When your men came upon us, they did not say who they were or what they wanted. They saw me and that fool Tallius started yelling for them to kill me and bring him my head. I was attacked, and so I defended myself!"

"Tallius did not tell you they searched for my wife and daughter?" Arion asked somewhat confused by this lack of discipline.

"My king, it is most likely that having seen the carnage of the battle, Tallius was not taking any chances." Sarpidon said.

"That may be so general, but would it not have been better to try and take the man prisoner, perhaps find out what had happened there first before trying to kill the man at first sight!" Arion said somewhat perturbed by his senior officers' excuses.

"He was young and not very experienced my king." Sarpidon said. "He most likely did not think through his options before he attacked."

"It is unfortunate for him that he will not have the opportunity to learn from that mistake!" Arion said venomously.

Just then a young officer entered the room and walked over to where they sat. He kneeled down on one knee and saluted the king and then rose and stood at attention.

"My king, your war council has assembled in the great hall as per your command. They await your arrival."

"Very well captain, tell them I will be there momentarily." The king replied.

The captain saluted again, turned and strode from the room. The king looked to his wife and daughter and said, "The general and I have much to do now so we will take our leave of you."

They both bowed there heads and said their goodbyes. Next Arion turned to Conan and said, "My thanks to you again for saving the lives of those I hold most dear. I am in your debt. If there is anything you desire, if it is within my power to grant it, just name it and it is yours."

"I could use a new horse." Conan said quickly. "Mine was killed during the battle. I could also use a new set of armor since I know not what happened to my own. I will need it if I'm to gain employment with a mercenary company."

"My king, if I may?" Sarpidon asked quickly before the king could answer. "As you know sire, recent events have left our army with a serious shortage of trained and experienced officers. Mayhap Conan would consider a posting here amongst us?"

The king looked at Sarpidon for a moment, then turned to Conan.

"The general is correct; we do need every experienced officer we can find. What would you say to a posting as a captain of one of my regiments? You would have command over five hundred men and a full suit of the finest armor. You'll have your choice of the best horses in the land, and best of all, a full share of all treasure taken during our upcoming quest!"

Conan looked from the king to Sarpidon and back, asking, "What quest is it you are talking about?"

The king smiled at him and said, "I think you know what I am talking about. I can't let this attack on my family and troops go unpunished. I have already called my war council together to plan our revenge on the Halidonians. I could use a man with your experience. What say you warrior, will you join us?"

Conan looked into the king's eyes. He liked what he saw there, a man that was ready to take revenge on those that had wronged him, his family and his people. Seeing this, the choice was easy to make.

"I will join you and your army in this quest! I too owe the Halidonians a debt! Let us go and begin their downfall!" Conan said as he stood up from the pallet he had been sitting on.

"Do you think yourself ready to venture down to this planning session?" Sarpidon asked.

"If it were necessary, I could march into battle right now by Crom!" Conan replied happily. "There is vengeance to be wrought and treasure to be had!"

The king just shook his head and laughed, "You are an amazing man Conan. If I had a hundred like you, I could rule the world! Let us go!"

With that, the small group left for the great hall to begin planning the fall of Halidon.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter IV

The sun was just clearing the horizon the next morning when the armies of Savaria began there march out of the city. Riding at the head of the ten thousand strong force was King Arion, wearing a purple tunic emblazoned with the golden cobra of Savaria over a shirt on chain mail. Next to him rode Sarpidon, Metabus, and Conan, all dressed in similar uniforms.

Behind them rode the king's personal bodyguard, the Fangs of the Cobra. This was a unit of one hundred picked men, all sworn to protect the king at any cost, even their own lives. Following them were the kings mounted knights, Five hundred of the finest horsemen in the world. Then came the archers, five hundred bowmen strong, each carried the standard double flexed longbow favored by the men of Savaria. In the hands of these highly trained men, this weapon could pierce plate armor at three hundred paces. Behind them, the backbone of the Savarian army, the two thousand men of the pike regiment. This unit was the pride of the king's forces. In the line of battle, they would form a phalanx at the head of the army, five ranks deep. Then, when the order to advance was given, they would begin moving forward with their pikes, each one over three man-heights in length with a double edged, palm shaped blade as long as a man's forearm, lowered parallel to the ground. Few forces on earth could hope to stand up to this fierce tactic.

The last groups in the column were the men-at-arms, Foot soldiers numbering seven thousand. Most of these men were part-time soldiers, training several times a year but spending most of there days working at whatever profession was their stock in trade. All wore the same purple tunic as the king, but they wore a wide variety of armor and carried all different types of weapons, swords, axe's, halberds, and mace's. The column of soldiers was followed by a baggage train of some hundred wagons. These carried all the extra equipment that the army would need during the upcoming campaign. Over three hundred people, blacksmiths, cooks, armorers, seamstress's, animal keepers, physicians, and priests went along in support of the army.

As the army marched out, Conan could not help but be impressed by the efficiency of the people. In the space of two weeks, all had been made ready for them to march. He had dealt with many armies over the years and never had he seen an army of this size ready to march in less then a fort night.

"How long will it take to reach Halidon?" Conan asked.

"Tis five days journey to their border from here." said Sarpidon. "It's three days march to the Palisara river. Then two day's march across the green belt to the Triastia, that's the border. Once we cross over the river it will be another four days before we reach Marsali, the capital city of Halidon. Of course that's if we are not meet along the way by Lazar's army."

"Who is Lazar?" asked Conan.

"He is the ruler of Halidon." said Arion. "He has always been a fair and reasonable man until now. It is so unlike him to do something like attacking the queen's caravan. It's odd, but Deverra told me that Lazar was most cordial to them the whole time they were there."

"Perhaps this Lazar did not give the order for the attack. Is there some other person with the power to order such an attack without his approval?" Conan asked.

"The only one with enough authority to do such would be Prince Adwr. said Arion. "He has always wanted to start a war between our two lands. He does not agree with his father's reluctance to try and take back the green belt."

"If Adwr is the one that attacked the queen's caravan, it may not be necessary to start a war with Halidon, Lazar may be convinced to turn his son over to you." Sarpidon said.

"As much as he dislikes Adwr, he is still is his son." Arion said. "He will never turn him over without a fight. No! I believe we will have to force the issue."

The army marched on through the grass lands of eastern Savaria without any problems, camping at night along the main road. On the morning of the third day, they reached the Palisara river. This was a fairly wide river, but the water was deep in only a few scattered places. The real problem in crossing the river was the current. It was extremely swift. It could take the feet out from an unsuspecting man and wash him down river without warning. A bridge had been built at the main road to aid in crossing, but it would have to be replaced every season because it would wash away during the spring thaws. Luckily the bridge had been replaced not long ago, so it was in good condition.

The Savarian army crossed over the Palisara into what they called "The Green Belt". They were meet by members of the garrison stationed there to protect the farmers from raiders. The army marched to the main outpost and made camp. There, King Arion was told by the garrison commander, Captain Serna that there seemed to be an increase in the amount of patrols being sent to watch the border.

"It would seem that Lazar is aware of our coming and is preparing a welcoming party for us." Arion said. "I was hoping to be across the Triastia before we were discovered. Oh well, this changes nothing. We will still have those responsible for the attack on our caravan and if Lazar or Adwr or anyone else tries to stop us, we will make them regret their interference."

"How many men can Lazar put into the field?" Conan asked.

"I would say perhaps no more then fifteen thousand. He would not have had time to gather his entire army." Sarpidon said. "Most of his army is made up of conscripts from throughout his lands. They are not very well trained and have little discipline, farmers mostly."

"Those I fought were no "farmers". They were both well trained and disciplined." Conan told them. "I'd say they were regular army troops from the way they fought. Is there a garrison near were they ambushed your caravan?"

"None that I know of." Sarpidon said.

"Then I would say they were there for another purpose" Arion said

"Do you think Lazar was planning to invade Savaria before you sent your envoy my lord?" asked Sarpidon.

"It would seem that something was afoot before they were sent. Perhaps the councilors found out about the invasion plans and were trying to get warning back to us." Arion said. "That would also explain why they were not taking the main road but rather the southern route. It is a rougher trip but it is also faster and far less traveled. They may have been trying to escape without causing any alarm."

"If that was true, why did your wife and daughter not say anything?" asked Conan. "Would they not have been told?"

"No, the man in charge of the envoy, Count Farren would not have revealed anything to them that might endanger them. If he had discovered an invasion plan, he would not have said anything." said Arion. "But he would have sent a courier with the information ahead."

"If that is the case, then what happened to this courier?" Conan asked.

King Arion sat and pondered the situation for a moment. His councilor and good friend, Count Farren had been among those killed by the Halidonians. What had he found out that he and nearly all those with him had been killed? And why did he not send a messenger. It made no sense! Arion turned to his officers, "Captain Metabus, send someone to fetch the garrison commander here. I have a few questions to ask him."

Metabus saluted and sent a messenger to find the garrison commander.

Not long after he was sent for, Captain Serna entered the king's tent. He looked a bit nervous, being called before the king could do that to a young officer. The king looked up from the maps that were spread upon the large table in the middle of the tent. There were several other officers there as well. He recognized most of them except for one man that was a near giant. He stepped forward and saluted the king. "How may I be of service my lord?"

"Captain Serna, I need you to think back on something. Over the past …..Oh say, ten to fifteen days, has there been anyone come through here that seemed in a hurry or acted strangely? asked Arion.

The young officer thought for a moment then said, "None come to mind my lord. Everything has been very quit. The only thing out of the ordinary has been the increased patrols by the Halidonians…….and the man that was beaten and robbed."

"What man!" the king said intently.

"We're not sure who is my lord, we found him when he staggered out of the trees on the Halidon side of the river." Serna responded. "He had been badly beaten and had a horrible wound to his chest. He appeared to have been robbed and beaten, then left for dead."

"What happened to him?" Arion shouted "Does he still live? Why didn't you tell us about this man?

The young captain didn't know what to say, he stood there helplessly and stammered, "I didn't think it important my lord. We see this kind of thing on a regular basis."

"Is he still alive?" the king asked a bit more calmly.

"Yes my lord! He is still alive, but he has yet to regain consciousness." Captain Serna said. "He is in the house of the local healer."

"Take us there!" the king ordered, turning to Sarpidon he said, "You and Conan come with me, the rest of you can return to your duties. Prepare your men to march. We leave an hour before sun rise."

With that, the king, Sarpidon, and Conan hurried after Captain Serna on their way to the healer's house.

The small home of the healer was not far from the king's camp. It was a typical village house with walls made of mud bricks and a thatched roof. The four soldiers reigned up in front of the house and quickly dismounted. Captain Serna knocked on the heavy wooden door with the hilt of his dagger.

After a short moment, the door swung open to reveal a short older woman with long, grey hair. She looked the four men over for a moment, then in a raspy voice spoke, "Ah! Captain Serna. I was hoping to speak with you. The man you brought to me last week has finally awoke." She then looked at the three strangers with Captain Serna and said, "I don't know your faces, you are not from these parts are you?

"This is King Arion, Sheala." Captain Serna said.

The old woman took a step closer and looked him up and down. Then she turned and said "I thought you would be taller."

This brought smiles to the four men's faces. Arion chuckled a little and said, "Perhaps I would have been had I not fallen on my head so often as a child."

The old woman looked back over her shoulder at the king and began to laugh at his quip. "I take it you are all here to see to man now that he is awake"

"If it is allowed madam doctor?" the king asked with just a slight touch of humor.

Again the old woman laughed. "I like a king that is not so full of himself that he can show respect to others. You're a good man Arion. Enter my home and be welcome."

Inside, the house was quit small. A large fire pit dominated the center of the one room structure. Hanging above the fire from a thick metal tripod were several pots of various sizes. Steam rose from two of them. Shelves lined three of the four walls. These were stacked high with jars, bottles, jugs, and boxes of every size, shape, and color, the contents of which were unknown to the king and his party. Against the far wall was a large bed made of straw covered with animal furs. There lay the form of a man. Even in the flickering light of the fire, one could see how pale he was. His upper body was wrapped in thick bandages as was the left side of his face.

King Arion walked over to where the man lay to have a closer look at his face. As he stepped closer, recognition came to the king's mind. It was Petrius, one of Count Farren's most trusted men. Arion knew Petrius to be a formidable fighter, so it would have taken more then a few men to do this much injury to him. As Arion approached, Petrius turned his head toward him. The one good eye took a moment to focus, then Petrius realized who it was that approached and began to rise from the pallet. Arion placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, " Lay still Petrius. Don't try and move, you're injured." Arion said softly. Petrius laid back on the bed, weary from even such slight exertion as sitting up.

"My lord, is it truly you?" Petrius asked.

"It is my friend. What happened to you? Who did this to you?" Arion asked.

"Lazar's men, they attacked me on the road to Savaria. I was on my way with urgent news from Count Farren." Petrius gasped out.

"What news from Count Farren did you bring Petrius?" Arion asked.

"Count Farren has discovered a plan to retake the green belt from Savaria in the works. He learned that Lazar was massing his forces along the Palisara." Petrius said. "Lazar plans on moving against the garrison during the harvest festival at the full moon."

"The harvest festival is to begin in two days my lord." Sarpidon said from behind Arion.

Arion nodded somberly. Then he asked Petrius, "Do you know where the attacks are to come from? How many men Lazar has in his forces?"

Petrius was tiring visibly, but still was able to answer, "Lazar plans on moving against the bridge at the main road first, but this is to be a diversion. The main attack will come from the south road. Lazar hopes to draw away the troops from that area when he attacks the main road, then slip his main force in from the south and sweep around behind the garrison troops and trap them between his two forces."

"A good plan, do you know how many men he has?" Arion asked Petrius.

"I know not for sure how many, but I believe three thousand will attack the main road bridge. The rest of his forces will be at the south road, perhaps eight or nine thousand, I don't know." Petrius said weakly.

Arion looked at Sarpidon and Conan for a moment, then to Petrius he said, "You have done well Petrius. Rest now."

Arion's words went unheard by Petrius, who had fallen back into a deep sleep.

Arion moved over to where Sarpidon and Conan stood, Captain Serna stood near the door examining a strange creature that floated in a large jar filled with a vile smelling liquid. In a voice that only Sarpidon and Conan could hear, he said "We only have a few hours to come up with a plan to stop Lazar. What do you think General?"

Sarpidon thought for a moment then said, "We should move our main force south to meet Lazar's army. It will take a full day to march down there so we would have to leave immediately to get there in time."

"What about the diversionary attack? What would you do about that?" Arion asked.

"We leave the garrison troops here to stop them." Sarpidon said. "There are nearly three thousand men in the green belt garrison. The sides would be even. Besides, the Halidonians won't be trying to push them too hard, remember, they are there to keep the garrison troops occupied while the main force crosses to the south and sweeps up from behind."

"We can't bring the full garrison to the main road. That would leave the rest of the green belt open to attack." Arion said.

"Then leave one regiment here to reinforce the garrison troops." said Conan. "Once the attack there is beaten back, that regiment can cross the river and move south while the garrison holds the main road. That will put them in a good position to attack Lazar's flank. Lazar will have no place to retreat to then."

Arion and Sarpidon stared at Conan for a moment the turned to each other and began to smile. "I like it!" Sarpidon said. "We would be reversing Lazar's plan on him."

Arion nodded agreement. "I believe your plan will work. Now, which regiment will be left to hold the main road?"

Sarpidon looked at Conan and said, "I say since it was his idea, we let Conan take command of a regiment and lead the defense of the main road."

Conan looked somewhat surprised. He looked from Sarpidon to Arion and said, "I think it would be better if I was to stay with the main force where I would be of much greater use."

"You would be of great value to us in the front line of the main battle, but I believe Sarpidon is right." Arion said. "It is crucial that the main road be held and that the attack there be beaten back. If by chance Lazar's men were to break through at the main road, we would find ourselves out flanked and would be hard put to win the battle. You're being able to beat back the attack at the main road and then making your way south to flank Lazar is paramount to our success."

Conan was not totally convinced that the king and Sarpidon were right, but he was sure there would be hard fighting at both places, so he agreed to take command of the main road defense.

Arion was pleased with the plan. He knew it was the best thing to do. "Now that we have that settled, let us go and inform our other commanders of there duties in the upcoming campaign."

With that, the four men began to leave. Arion stopped and gave his thanks to Sheala for the care given to Petrius. She merely laughed and waved them on. With that they all mounted their horses and rode back to their encampment to make arrangements for the coming battle.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter V

Dawn had yet to come before the men of Savaria broke camp and were on the march. Rank upon rank of men, some still wiping sleep from their eyes trudged onward to the south, there to meet the army of Halidon in what would not only decide the ownership of the lands known simply as "The Green Belt", but whether or not Savaria itself would survive.

Sitting on their mounts to the side of the column of men, Arion watched his army march by. Next to him sat Sarpidon, Conan, Metabus, Roga, and Serna. All sat quietly, lost in their own thoughts. After a few moments, Arion turned to Conan, "We should reach the south road by mid-day tomorrow. With any luck, we will get to the river crossing ahead of Lazar and be well entrenched. If we don't get there first, it will be difficult to hold for very long. I will need you to repel the attack at the main road crossing as fast as possible, and then make best speed south so as to take Lazar's flank."

Conan nodded and said, "If your man Petrius was right, then the Halidonian's won't attack here until tomorrow. I have a plan to surprise them before then. If all goes well, I should be nipping at Lazar's hind quarters by just past mid-day the day after."

Sarpidon cast a glance at Conan and asked, "What kind of "surprise" is it you have planned?"

Conan smiled and said, "I and a few of my men are going to pay them a visit tonight in their camp."

Arion and Sarpidon exchanged looks of surprise then both turned to Conan. Arion asked the question that was on all their minds. "To what purpose do you intend to make this "visit" Captain?"

"I have learned in the past that if you cut the head off a viper, it can no longer strike at you. I plan on removing the leaders of the Halidonian's before they have a chance to attack us. Without someone to lead them, they will either leave without a fight or be so disorganized; they will not stand a chance."

"A bold plan my friend, but do you really believe you can pull it off?" asked Sarpidon.

Conan shrugged his massive shoulders and said, "I have done it before. One has to be able to move swiftly and silently on a mission like this. I believe I've found several men amongst my regiment that can do such."

Arion nodded his head and said to Conan, "I would never have even thought to try anything such as you speak of. You are far more daring then any man I have ever known. But tell me Captain, what if you are found out or killed. Who will lead your regiment here?"

Conan turned to glance at Captain Serna, and then back to Arion, "Serna will be here and will take command if I don't return. He has beengiven all the detailson the planned defense of the main road crossing and of the plan to flank Lazar to the south."

Sarpidon looked to Captain Serna for a moment then to Arion he said, "I mean no disrespect to Captain Serna, but I am not sure he is qualified to command such a force in an operation of this magnitude. Perhaps Captain Metabus or Roga should be left here to command in the event Conan's "visit" does not go so well?"

Captain Serna's face reddened slightly at the insinuation that he was not capable of handling the assignment but said nothing. Arion saw the expression on the young mans face. He turned to Sarpidon and said, "Captain Conan believes Captain Serna is capable of doing the job. I trust his judgment. Besides, we will need Captain Metabus and Lt. Roga when we engage Lazar's army."

Sarpidon was not sure he agreed with the king, but he would not press the matter farther.

Arion turned to Conan and said, "Well Captain, it is time for us to part company. I will look for you the day after tomorrow. I wish you and your men success."

Conan nodded to the king and said," I look forward to seeing the faces of Lazar's men when we ride down on them from their side of the river. Just be sure to leave a few of them for us."

Arion laughed and reached out his hand to Conan. Conan grasped him by the forearm in return. Then the king turned his horse and began to ride to the front of his army. Sarpidon moved over next to Conan and said, "Do you really think your plan can work?"

"If I had any doubts, I wouldn't be doing it. It will work." Conan said confidently.

Sarpidon smiled and nodded, then he grasped hands with Conan, "Mitra watch over you."

"I'll see you in two days." Conan said

With that Sarpidon and the rest of the officers rode up the line of men and on to what awaited them. Conan turned to Captain Serna and said, "We have much to do before tomorrow. Best we get started now." Serna nodded and the two men wheeled their mounts around and headed for the encampment near the main road crossing, where they made ready for the next days activities.

By late afternoon, things near the main road crossing were nearing completion. A long trench had been dug across the head of the bridge in a large semi-circle. It was ten paces wide and nearly two man heights deep. This trench would slow down any attack across the bridge and any who fell in to the trench would be easy pickings for the bowmen. Conan had two hundred of the Savarian longbow men among his regiment. Although they were not as accurate as the Halidonian's, their double recurved bow's had nearly twice the range of the much smaller Halidonian bows. The bowmen would be placed in positions where they could feather anyone approaching the bridge or those foolish enough to be caught on the bridge.

Just one pace behind the trench, a wall made of long, thick logs was built. Behind this wall, four hundred pike men would be stationed. From this position, they would be able to use their pikes on any man that was able to climb the side of the trench wall.

The next line of defense were the four hundred men-at-arms, with their heavy armor and assortment of killing weapons. These had a dozen long, narrow planks that when called for would be carried forward through gates in the log wall and placed across the trench so they could engage the enemy at close quarters.

In reserve, Conan had five hundred men from the Green Belt garrison. Captain Serna had brought half his men there to serve as back-up to the regular army troops and to take over the defensive positions after Conan had taken his regiment south to meet up with King Arion. The other half of the garrison was split up into two groups of one hundred men at each of the two smaller river crossings farther north and another group of one hundred in between the two crossings as back-up. The rest of the garrison was tasked with patrolling the banks of the Palisara, searching for any signs of enemy movement.

Conan and Serna made an inspection of the defenses and found them to be in good order. Conan set up a watch schedule for the night and then went to his tent for a short nap before he got down to the business of "beheading the viper."

Conan rose from his sleep just before midnight and made his way to the fire near the entrance to his tent. There he found Serna standing by, watching as several of Conan's men began stripping off their chain-mail shirts, boots, jewelry, and any other metal items on their persons. Then they all began taking grease that had been saved from the cook fires at Conan's instruction and began crushing pieces of charred wood into it and mixing it into a thick, black paste. This being done, they began to cover themselves with this strange mixture, making long, uneven streaks on their faces, arms, legs, chests, and backs. Then they took more of the mixture and smeared it on their swords and daggers. When this was done, each man wrapped a piece of dark cloth around the top of their sheaths and replaced their blades.

Serna was confused by all this and asked Conan what it was they were doing. Conan looked at the young man and chuckled. "I guess you have never been part of a raiding party, have you?" asked Conan.

Serna shock his head and said, "I've never seen anyone do the things you are doing."

"Well, it's like this, the grease and charcoal mixed together make a type of paint that helps hide you in the dark, it makes you blend in to the darkness. The rags on the swords muffle the blades from rattling. Anything that can make noise is left behind, even the boots we wear will make a scuffing noise when you step on a rock, so we all go barefoot."

Serna shook his head in amazement. He had so much to learn about being a soldier. He hoped that when all this was over, he would have the chance to learn more from this strange warrior. But first they would all have to survive the next few days.

When the last of Conan's raiding party was ready, he took Serna aside and said, "We will be gone till just before sunrise. We will let you know when we are coming back. Be sure the sentries remain alert and don't feather us when we return. If you don't hear from us before sun up, carry out our plan as we had talked about before. The king is counting on us to hold this crossing and to be there to attack Lazar. Good luck Serna." With that, Conan slapped the young man on the shoulder and then turned to the dozen men of his raiding party. "Alright you dogs, let's get moving. Remember, silence is life. Make no sound and when we strike, strike fast and silent. If you are discovered, sound the alarm and make for the river as fast as you can. Alright, let's go!" With that, thirteen phantoms faded into the night.

The camp of the Halidonians was all but unguarded when Conan and his chosen reapers came upon it. What few sentries there were, were either sound asleep or so far into their wine skins that Conan could have walk right into the middle of the camp unnoticed. Conan used hand signals to have his men spread out. Each man would make his way into the camp and locate the tents of the officers. There they would slip in and begin slitting the throats of the officers.

All went as planned at first, shadows moved amongst the sleeping forms on the ground without a sound, stopping every so often over a soldier here and there, leaving behind a corps, it's life's blood draining out onto the ground. Other shadows made their way silently to the group of tents at the center of the camp. These encountered sentries that were far more alert then those on the perimeter of the camp, not that it helped them. In the end, they toowere dispatched with the same silent efficiency as the others.

It was at the largest tent that things quickly came undone. A pair of Savarian's were making their way to the entrance of the tent, keeping to the shadows. They were ten paces from the two guards flanking the entry when the flap of the tent was thrown back and a large, bearded officer came trudging out of the tent, having been rudely awakened by a sudden need to relieve his bladder. Wearing nothing more then a loincloth, he sleepily made his way around to the back of the tent. The two Savarian's froze as the man made right for them. As the sleepy Halidonian came closer, some primal sense told him he was not alone. He suddenly stopped, squinting into the darkness as if he could see something there and challenged, "Who is that there? Show yourselves!" Then the man turned his head and yelled back to the guards at the tent entry, "Guards! Sound the alarm! We have intrud…." The man never finished as one of the shadows suddenly became a man and let fly a dagger which found its mark in the Halidonian's throat. The guards at the tent reacted swiftly to the warning. One of them rushed around the tent with weapons drawn and at the ready. The other guard began sounding the alarm on the large horn that hung from one of the tent poles.

Immediately, throughout the camp, more horns were sounded as the alarm spread. Conan had just entered the large tent next to where the alarm was sounded. Several officers inside the tent sat up and immediately began buckling on weapons before they noticed the intruder. Conan did not hesitate as he charged down the middle of the tent with his dagger in one hand and sword in the other, stabbing and slashing the confused soldiers before they could react. Conan had cut down four men before the Halidonian officers were aware he was there. Conan ripped the belly out of one man to his right with his sword while slicing the man on his left's throat with his dagger. The next pair faired no better as Conan made his way swiftly though the tent. A slash to his right side left a man without an arm, the follow through striking another man in the leg just below the knee, leaving him to fall to the ground screaming as he tried in vane to stop the blood from pumping out onto the thick carpet of the tent. All this took place in the space of less then a dozen heartbeats, but it was sufficient time for those near the back of the tent to draw their weapons and defend themselves, though this proved somewhat difficult in the cramped quarters of the tent. Conan knew the time had come to escape, so he grabbed a large cushion from the floor and threw it into the faces of the nearest soldiers, then kicked the center pole out from the tent, thus causing it to collapse on the pursuing men. This also caused the tent to catch fire from several lamps that were hung on tripods inside. Men began screaming in agony as the flames spread over them.

Conan had managed to dive out of the tent as it collapsed, avoiding the fate of the Halidonian's. All hell seemed to have broke loose as he rolled to his feet. Men ran in all directions, yelling and screaming. No officers were to be seen to organize any sort of defense or mount a search for his party. A smile crossed Conan's face as he began to run toward the river. Behind him, utter chaos ensued. It would seem that their little "visit" had been successful. He made his way to the waters edge before taking a moment to glance back. There he could see several more tents ablaze and men running in all directions. They would be of no concern in the morning. Serna's troops would make short work of them if they were to attack now. With a last look around, Conan slipped into the river and made his way back to camp.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter VI

As the sun rose in the east, smoke from the previous night's activities could still be seen rising from the forest. On the west bank of the river, the troops of the Savarian garrison stood in their ranks laughing at the site before them. Across the river, at the other end of the bridge that crossed the Triastia River, stood a rag-tag group of soldiers. No more then a thousand in number, they were a sad site to behold. Most among them wore only a few pieces of armor while a few wore none at all. The armor they did wear was badly scorched and discolored, their swords were held at their sides, the scabbards that once held them having been consumed in the fires the night before. A few men held spears or halberds that had their shafts burnt. The face of every man there showed the fatigue of a sleepless night coupled with the prospect of a battle they knew they could never win.

At the fore of the pathetic Halidon's, was a small group of what appeared to be officers. There were perhaps ten of them in all, all dressed very similar to the ranks of troops behind them. One among them seemed to be trying to rally his companions to move forward to attack the Savarian's. The rest of the officers could be seen shaking their heads and yelling back at the one man. This delighted the Savarian's to no end. They continued to enjoy the show as the one officer began stomping his feet and yelling even louder. He turned from his fellow officers and looked across the river where the Savarian's were howling with laughter. Then he turned back to his people livid with rage. He began pointing at the Savarian's while he continued to berate the others. But all the laughter was about to come to an abrupt end. The outraged officer had finally taken all he could. One of the officers that had been arguing with the one man turned as if to walk away, then spun around and backhanded the outraged officer. At that, the first man drew his sword and ran the blade to the hilt in his attacker's chest. The officer yanked his blade free of the corps and then kicked the dead man. Seeing this, two of the men that had been standing by moved in and thrust their blades into the murderer. The officer that had been so angry just moments before, now lay very quite and still in a growing puddle of blood.

Now the remaining officers of the Halidonian host talked quietly among themselves. After a moment, two of them began walking toward the bridge. Neither man was carrying a weapon. From the Savarian side, Conan, Captain Serna, and a standard bearer went to meet them beyond the battlements at the head of the bridge. The two Halidonian officers halted a few paces from the end of the bridge. Conan and his party stopped at the end of the bridge. The two sides eyed each other for a moment before one of the Halidonian's spoke. "I am Captain Batal of the Halidonian army. To whom do I speak?"

Conan glanced at Serna then answered, "I am Conan, Captain of the army of Savaria. This is Captain Serna. What is it you want here?" he challenged.

The Halidonian captain looked hard at Conan for a moment then said, "You are not Savarian. Where is it you are from?"

Conan leaned forward in his saddle, looking down on the arrogant Halidonian and said, "I am from Cimmeria, not that it is any business of yours. Now answer my question, what do you want!"

The Halidonian flinched at the harsh tone and ice cold stare of the huge man before him. To his credit, he kept his voice level as he responded. "I would like to know under who's authority your men invaded our land and attacked our troops while they slept. We were here to conduct training with some new troops and you attack us without any reason or warning."

Conan leaned back in his saddle and laughed, "Training! That's a lie! We already know about your plan to invade the Green Belt."

The Halidonian captain was stunned by this. How could they have known? He keep his composure and said, "I don't know where you heard this lie from, but I assure you we were here for a simply training expedition."

Conan looked at the officer for a moment. He knew the man was lying, so he played along for a while. "Let us say you were on a training mission, why are you and your men here in ranks as if you are ready to do battle? And what was that business yonder with the man you killed?" Conan asked.

The Halidonian glanced back to were his men stood watching for a moment, then said, "That was Senior Captain Fajer. He wanted us to attack you. Said we must avenge those you murdered." He said while staring at Serna. "Some of the other officers, those who were not murdered in their bed rolls, wanted to send for reinforcements since most of our troops were either killed in your attack or deserted."

"And what is it you want to do Captain?" Conan asked noncommittally.

"It is my intention to take what is left of this unit and return to our camp. We have a great number of wounded and…..dead to attend to." The captain said not trying to hide his anger. "I have come here seeking your assurance that you will not attack us while we return to our homes."

Conan looked over to Serna and asked him nonchalantly, "What say you Captain? Should we let these dogs crawl back to their kennels?"

Serna gave Conan an amused smirk and replied, "I see no problem with letting them go home in one piece, so long as they lay down their weapons and armor where they stand. I will even have a troop of my men "escort" them back to the gates of their stronghold, so they will not have to worry about thieves along the way."

Captain Batal face was scarlet with rage, but he held his tongue in light of the fact that his men were out numbered nearly three to one and most of his men were in no condition to resist.

Conan laughed at both Serna's joke and the Halidonian's anger. When he finally stopped laughing, Conan said to Serna, "I don't think you will need to escort them all the way, just far enough so they won't cause any trouble along the border." Then he turned to Captain Batal. "You have my word as a soldier that if you and your men leave peacefully, my men will not do you anymore harm. You may go and care for your wounded and dead without worry of an attack from us, but be on your way by midday or we will be paying you another visit and this time none of you shall be spared. Do you understand?"

Captain Batal was furious that he had to let this barbarian fool and a Savarian nithing speak to him in such a manner, but under the present circumstances, he had little choice. He glared at Conan with white hot hatred, but said nothing, only nodded his head. He then turned away and quickly marched back to where his fellow officers stood waiting. Conan watched as Captain Batal related the terms of their withdraw to them. He could see the fury the man felt as he told them to drop their weapons. Some of them seemed to refuse the order, waving their hands at the captain dismissively. The captain then stepped right up to those few and began yelling in their faces and pointing back over his shoulder to where Conan and his men sat. The holdouts looked to the Savarian's, where Conan decided to give these fools a bit of encouragement in following their orders.

Turning in his saddle, he ordered, "First four ranks, draw your weapons and move up to the head of the bridge." Conan turned to Captain Serna and smiled. "That should give them something to think on." Captain Serna smiled.

Seeing the Savarian troops moving toward the bridge with their steel drawn, the reluctant officers realized they had only two choices, obey or die. With that all the officers returned to their men, who still stood in ranks looking somewhat worried by the approaching Savarian's. Orders were given and one by one the Halidonian soldiers moved in single file past Captain Batal, dropping their weapons into a pile. Swords, spears, bows, arrows, knives, daggers, shields, and all the armor they wore was stripped off and tossed on to the growing pile. Once they had disarmed, the Halidonian's moved off toward what remained of their burned out camp to gather the wounded and dead for the long trip home. As the last man dropped his gear on the stack and moved off after the rest of his fellows, Captain Batal turned so as to face the Savarian's. Anger and contempt were plainly evident in his face. He stared at his antagonist for several moments, and then he drew his sword, raising it high above his head and began yelling at the Savarian troops at the bridge. Then with his sword raised, Captain Batal charged forward, running head long toward the ranks of soldiers. The men at the bridge were astounded by what they were seeing. They were about to be attacked by a madman! Captain Batal hit the end of the bridge at a full run, sprinting across the length of the span heedless of the odds he faced.

The officer in command of the troops at the bridge looked back to where Conan sat watching this fools charge. He gave the officer a nod and hand signal. With that the young officer called forward a pair of archers. The bowmen stepped forward of their comrades and in unison, two shafts were released, finding their marks in the chest of the enraged Captain Batal. The Halidonian was able to take several more steps before his legs refused to support him any longer. Batal fell to his knees, gasping for breath. He tried to regain his feet, but could not seem to control his body. Then he heard the sound of an approaching horse. He raised his head to see the barbarian Savarian commander coming toward him. Again he tried to rise to his feet, but was unable to. The barbarian looked down on him from his saddle, not with contempt or gloating pleasure, but with what looked to Batal as ……respect!

"It is always better to die facing ones enemies with sword in hand then to crawl away and live a long life, is it not?" Conan said to Batal.

The Halidonian captain stared up at Conan, his courage showing through the pain. "That it is. Would that I could rise and meet you with blade in hand then to die on my knee's before you, helpless to defend myself." Batal gasped out.

With all the men of his command watching, Conan dismounted his horse and walked to where the Halidonian captain kneeled. He then reached down and picked up the fallen blade of the captain.

"What now? Will you finish me off with my own blade?" Batal said, pain ripping at his resolve.

Conan looked at the wounded man for a moment, then he stepped toward the injured man and lifted him up to his feet. Pain tore at Batal as he was lifted to his feet. His head swam at the verge of concusses. The wave of pain passed after a moment and Batal found himself standing, supported by the barbarian captain. Batal's confusion was written all over his face. "What are you doing to me?" he asked.

Conan looked into the man's eyes and said, "I am giving you your wish."

Still confused, Batal asked, "What do you mean?"

"You said you would prefer to die on your feet, facing your enemy with sword in hand" said Conan. "You are a brave man Captain. Because of this, I will give you the death you desire."

Understanding dawned in Batal's brain. This barbarian was a far more honorable man then he would have believed possible. A slight smile came to his lips and he said, "My thanks to you captain. You lend honor to my death. I will speak well of you in the next world."

Conan nodded at Batal, then handed the wounded man his sword. The blade seemed to weigh a hundred times as much as it should as Batal steadied himself. He held the blade in front of himself as Conan backed away a few paces, then he drew his sword. Batal raised his blade in salute as best he could then with a surprisingly agile lunge, attacked Conan.

Conan was caught somewhat off guard be the suddenness of the attack, but was able to pare the blows with little difficulty. Batal's initial attack had taken all his strength. He stumbled about trying to raise his sword for another attack but could not lift the blade from the ground. Staggering sideways into the rail of the bridge, Batal lost his grip on his blade and sank to the ground. Breathing heavily and bleeding from the arrow wounds, he knew he was finished. He raised his eyes to where Conan stood looking down on him. This time he was sure it was respect he saw in those ice blue eyes. With a raspy voice chocked with blood, Batal spoke to his adversary, "I am done in. I have no strength to defend myself further. You gave me a chance to die like a warrior. For that I give you thanks. But now it is time for me to join my ancestors. Finish me off warrior. Release my spirit from this world."

Conan kneeled down beside Batal. He picked up Batal's fallen blade and placed it in his hand and wrapped his nearly lifeless fingers around the grip. Batal looked Conan in the eye and with his final breath said, "thank you Conan."

With that, Conan drew his dagger from its sheath, placed the blade to Batal's throat, and swiftly drew the blade across his throat, thus ending Batal's suffering and releasing his spirit to eternity.

The silence was deafening as Conan stood and walked back to his horse, every eye followed him. As he mounted, Captain Serna looked at him quizzically. "Why did you do that, giving that fool a warrior's death?" he asked.

Conan whipped around in his saddle, his right arm shooting out like a striking cobra, grabbed the startled captain by the front of his tunic and nearly pulled him from his saddle. "That "fool" as you call him showed more courage in death then you will every hope to possess." growled Conan. "He died like a warrior, and by Crom you will honor him as such or I will crack your skull!"

The young captain was in shock, as were those watching this spectacle. "What is so honorable about a madman attacking a regiment with nothing but a sword?" Captain Serna yelled back trembling at the pure rage in the big Cimmerian's eyes.

Conan threw the young officer back in his saddle and said in a more controlled tone, "He was not mad! He was as professional a soldier as ever I have seen."

"I don't understand?" Serna said, relieved that his fellow captain's rage had receded somewhat.

Conan stared at the lifeless form of the Halidonian officer and said, "His first concern was for the safety of his men. Once he knew they would not be slaughtered while they were all but helpless, he was able to avenge his personal honor."

"By attacking an entire regiment? It was suicide!" Serna said, more confused then ever.

"We had made sport of him in front of his entire command. He could no longer face them without a certain amount of lost respect. By attacking, he could regain that respect and die as a warrior should…..in battle!" Conan told the young captain.

Captain Serna stared at the body of Captain Batal and slowly nodded, "I think I understand now. In truth, his courage does shame me. I will use this as a lesson for the future, my thanks to you Conan for showing me the error of my way."

"Don't thank me, thank him!" Conan said nodding to Batal. "he was your instructor."

Looking around, Conan realized it was getting toward mid-morning. He turned back to Serna and said to him, "It is past time for me to move south with my men. I leave this crossing to you. Keep watch over the Halidonian's. Make sure they do not try to regroup and attack." Conan looked once more at Captain Batal and said, "And give that man a proper funeral, he has more then earned it!"

Captain Serna nodded in agreement and said, "It shall be done as you say. He will be given a hero's funeral. I personally will see to it." With that said, Serna turned his horse and gave orders to have the dead Halidonian captain made ready for a hero's funeral.

Conan nodded to the young officer then turned to his second in command, Lt. Brencis, and said, "Have the men ready to move out within the hour. We will need to make up for lost time." The young man saluted and rode off to carry out his orders.

Conan looked to the south, knowing he had only a few days to move his troops into position too flank the main Halidonian force. Would he make it in time he wondered? He would do everything within his power to do just that.

The sound of a horse riding up brought him back from his revere. It was Lt. Brencis. He reigned up next to Conan and reported, "We are ready to move out on your word sir."

Conan was amazed at the efficiency of this regiment he had been given. They always seemed one step ahead of him. He smiled to himself and to Brencis he said, "Well then! Let's be moving. We've wasted enough time here already"

With that, the order was given to move out. To the south lay an enemy waiting to be killed.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter VII

Daybreak was still several hours away when King Arion threw back the flap to his tent and began to make his rounds. His men had worked for the past 3 days to construct the trenches, stockades, and archery blinds along the west bank of the mighty Triastia River. This was a strong defensive position for his grossly outnumbered troops. The river channel was very wide, some thirty paces across, and more the a dozen man-heights deep. The bridge that crossed the river at this point was the only such conveyance within two days ride in either direction. It was built by Arion's grandfather some 70 years before as a way to travel around Halidonia and its corrupt rulers that would tax anyone that passed through their lands. Unfortunately, the small kingdom that had been there at the time, Cloverland, was absorbed by the Halidonians a few years later when they dammed up the river, turning the once green country into an arid desert and thus made this route less favorable.

To the south, the river stayed in its deep channel for several leagues before it emerged into the rolling plains of Genoshia. Genoshia was a very rich and beautiful land of lush green forests and fertile fields that stretched off to the far horizon making this one of the richest kingdoms around. For many decades Savaria and Genoshia had been allies and trade partners, ever since Arion's grandfather, Arigon, married the daughter of the Genoshian king, Primis.

The present king of Genoshia was a long time friend of Arion's, King Phrotus. He was a long time supporter of Savaria and mortal enemy of Halidonia. Several times his army was called upon to repel incursions from them. Each time the Halidonians were sent packing, licking their wounds. Arion had already sent a messenger to the court of King Phrotus, letting him know what was taking place between his forces and the Halidonians and warning him to take precautions against any possible incursions. Arion was sure his friend would offer troops to support his in the defense of the south road, but this was his fight and he wanted to be the one to defeat the Halidonians.

West of the bridge, the land was hilly and rocky, sloping up from the river to a rather prominent range of cliffs. The only way through this natural barrier was a narrow pass that bore the name Wild Horse Canyon due to the large herds of horses that ran through the area. It was a great natural defensive position that had been used for centuries by past rulers of Savaria. Only a dozen paces in width, it rose steeply up to the large plains of the Green Belt and the Palasara River. Arion had already dispatched a hundred archers to this area to build blinds from which they could easily rake the entire canyon with arrows if the Halidonians managed to push through the first line of the defenders.

As Arion continued his inspection of the fortifications, he was joined by General Sarpidon. "Greetings my lord, up early I see!" Sarpidon said.

"I wanted to take one last look around before the days activities began." Arion said to his military commander. "I wanted to see if we may have missed anything."

"I too have been thinking on this my lord." Sarpidon said quietly. "I can think of nothing more we can do, except perhaps move some of our troops across the river to meet them on their side."

Arion shook his head and said to Sarpidon, "No general, we have had this discussion before. We can not afford to split our forces anymore then we already have. We will be outnumbered here by nearly three to one until Conan can arrive. We have the advantage of position by defending this side of the bridge and our bowmen have nearly twice the range of the Halidonian's."

Sarpidon stared out at the open area across the river canyon, beyond that was a small grassy forested area where the camp fires of the Halidonian host burned in the pre-dawn. One could see the men preparing for the days battle. "I know my lord, but the thought of even one of those sons's of whore's setting foot on our soil galls me to no end." he said pounding his fist into his other hand.

"I understand my friend, but we must not allow ourselves to be drawn into a compromising position." Arion said, placing his hand on the general's shoulder. "We will let them be the fools and rush in."

Sarpidon nodded his head in resignation and continued to walk with Arion.

Throughout the camp of the Savarian army, men stirred, speaking in hushed tones. Some were strapping on armor and weapon belts while others made ready large quivers of arrows for the archers while still others sharpened the blades of swords and the heads of spears with whetstones. Some few sat by the fires of the camp and ate small pieces of dried meat and bread to break their fast, knowing full well it could be the last meal they would ever have. Arion and Sarpidon made their way among these men, stopping every so often to say a few words to a man here and there. Both believed that if their men saw them calmly walking about, it would build their courage for what lay ahead.

As the two men neared the king's tent, they were approached by Captain Metabus. After saluting the king and then the general, he said to Sarpidon, "All is in readiness for battle general. The men are gearing up and will be in position before sunrise, as ordered."

"Very good captain, make sure the archers have an adequate number of arrows before they move into their blinds. I don't want them to run short in the middle of the fight." Sarpidon ordered.

"It will be done sir." The captain responded as he saluted and turned to carry out his instructions.

Sarpidon turned to the king and said to him, "With your permission my lord, I will go and finish my own preparations before the fighting begins."

Arion nodded and said, "Yes, by all means. I too must go and get into my armor."

Sarpidon started at this. "Do you intend to join the fighting my lord?" he asked somewhat surprised.

"If necessary, though I doubt that will be the case. I think the Halidonians will break before they can even reach the bridge, let alone engage our troops on this side face to face." Arion said.

Sarpidon nodded to the king and saluted then turned and made his way to his tent. There, outside his tent he found Captain Metabus waiting. The two officers ducked inside the general's tent and Metabus said to his commander, "All archers have five hundred shafts at the ready sir."

"Good. Good. Then we are ready to show these Halidonian dogs what happens when you cross Savaria." Sarpidon said rubbing his hands together eagerly. "I want all posts manned and ready immediately. I will be there as soon as I finish donning my armor."

"Yes my lord" Metabus said. He saluted and left the tent.

Sarpidon pulled on his arm guards and strapped them down. He always put his armor on alone, asking no help from any of the squires that were available to assist. He had always preferred this so as to guarantee that every strap and buckle was done just right. He strapped on his forearm guards next, followed by shin guards, sword belt with his long, heavy blade and finally the heavy steel helmet with the gold and silver inlays and high purple and gold plume on top. Now in full armor, his mind turned to the Halidonians. He would exact a great revenge upon them for the attack on the queen's caravan ……… Soraya's caravan. He would kill a thousand of the Halidonian scum for what they tried to do to her. With any luck he thought, he would be able to capture Lazar and Adwr and put them to torture. Yes, that would be fabulous! Slow, methodical, and oh so very painful. A smile began to form on his face when the sound of a trumpet sounded outside his tent and the shouts of men began. The battle was about to begin……. As was his vengeance.

The sun had yet to clear the trees to the east when the soldiers on watch first caught sight of the Halidonian forces moving forward. An old veteran sergeant who was in charge of the guards near the bridge was the first to spot them. He immediately sounded the alarm and ordered his men to their positions along the barricades. Men began taking up positions all along the west side of the river canyon. Savarian long bowmen moved in behind the blinds built on either side of the bridge, creating a perfect crossfire along the entire length of the bridges span. Directly at the foot of the bridge was a wide, deep trench. The bottom of the trench was covered with large stones and wooden stakes to either impale those who feel in or cause them to break their legs by landing on the stones wrong. In another trench just beyond the first one, spearmen took up positions from which they could easily stab at any Halidonian lucky enough or unlucky enough to make it that far. Behind the entrenched spearmen were more archers behind still more barricades. The final line of defense was the four thousand heavily armed and armored infantry soldiers and the five hundred heavy cavalry of the Golden Cobras. In all, nearly nine thousand men were entrenched on the Savarian side of the river.

King Arion was already sitting astride of his mighty warhorse at the head of the cavalry when General Sarpidon reigned up next to him. Arion cast a sideways glance at his general and said with a smile, "Nice of you to join us general. I thought you might have decided to forgo the battle."

"Nay my lord, I would not miss this for anything." Sarpidon responded with a wry smile. Then staring across the river, he said to the king, "It would seem that Lazar has brought every man of his realm with him. There must be close to thirty thousand men yonder."

Arion looked at the ever increasing number of men forming rank after rank on the far side of the river. "I'd say closer to thirty five thousand." He said with a grimace. "I would not have imagined Lazar could muster such a force."

Arion and Sarpidon continued to watch as the seemingly endless stream of men poured forth from the wooded area onto the large, grassy field along the east side of the river canyon. Men with all variety of weapons could be seen. Men with spears, halberds, and other pole arms were mixed in with men carrying battleaxes, maces, war hammers, bows and even slings formed long ranks several hundred paces in length and dozens of rows deep. It was a very impressive site to behold.

From the forest emerged a knot of riders. Several of these horsemen carried banners and standards identifying them as Halidonian. The large red banner with a coiled green serpent on it was the battle standard of Lazar, the king of Halidonia. A similar banner flew beside it; this one having a black border around the outer edge, was the standard of Prince Adwr.

The group of riders rode to a spot in front of the ranks of soldiers and sat for several moments watching the flow of men coming from the tree line. Then they could be seen turning their heads toward the entrenched Savarians with leering smiles on their faces. This angered Arion and Sarpidon to no end.

Then the small group of riders began trotting forward toward the head of the bridge. Leading this group was Prince Adwr, fully armored and wearing what appeared to be a crown on his head. With him was Fateh, First general of the armies of Halidon and Antar, his second in command and a man bearing a white flag of truce. They approached the bridge and stopped just short of the span.

Arion could see now that Adwr was in fact wearing a crown, the Viper Crown of Halidon. Made in the form of a coiled viper, it was made of solid gold and incrusted with diamonds, rubies, emeralds, and onyx. It was the crown of the king, so Arion was curious as to why Adwr was wearing it. His question was soon to be answered.

"I have come forth to offer you a chance to save yourselves. Any of you brave men of Savaria that joins me will be given lands and titles once I have added your kingdom to my empire." Adwr called out in a loud voice. "Those who resist will die. I will not make this generous offer a second time."

All along the Savarian lines could be heard laughter and insults being thrown back at the Halidonian prince. This made him furious. "I give you an opportunity to live and this is how you repay my kindness. Very well then! Death be on all your heads!" the prince screamed.

King Arion rode forward along with Sarpidon and Metabus to the opposite end of the bridge. They too were laughing at the audacity of the Halidonian prince. Arion stopped his mount at the edge of the trench that spanned the entire width of the bridge. "So Prince Adwr, does your father the king know of this "empire" you say you're building? What does he say about you making war on his neighbors like this?"

Adwr smiled at the Savarian king and said to him, "My father and I disagreed on the matter. He wanted to build a peaceful alliance with Savaria. Said it was in the best interest of Halidonia to accept the peace treaty your envoy presented to him a fortnight ago. I told him we didn't need a treaty, but he insisted we did. So I killed him!"

Arion exchanged shocked looks with Sarpidon at hearing this. His worst nightmare had come true. Adwr had murdered his father and was now on a campaign of conquest. Adwr had always been a power hungry lunatic, but his father had always been able to hold him in check……..until now.

"Now that I sit upon the throne, things will be much different. I intend to expand my realm, and I am going to start with Savaria. Adwr continued. "I will have your daughter, Soraya for my wife and you Arion will hang from my palace gates, right next to my father. Then I will take Genoshia and then Kalendia and Brendinal and so on and so forth until I have conquered the whole of the world. I will be a GOD!"

All reason had left Adwr's eyes. He was in some kind of self induced fantasy world where he was a self styled god. This lasted only a moment, then he returned to reality. "Surrender yourselves to me and I will spare the lives of your men. Only you Arion and your officers will die if you give over to me. If you chose to resist, I will leave not one man, woman, or child alive anywhere in Savaria. Is that what you want?" Adwr said. "Look yonder at what you face. Do you really think you have a chance of stopping me from attaining my destiny? Surrender now or die!"

"Do you truly believe we will just lay down our arms and surrender to some lunatic whelp of a prince who murdered his own father?" Sarpidon yelled back. "You have no idea what you have gotten yourself into boy! You may have us outnumbered five to one, but there is still only one way to cross the river, and we hold that. You will lose half your men just trying to reach the bridge. The rest will die trying to cross it."

Adwr began to smile, as did those with him. "Yes, I see you have a firm hold on this one bridge. But are you so sure it is the only bridge?" Adwr said with a mocking tone. He then turned his mount away and rode back toward his lines.

Just then from the forest came several very large constructs on huge wheeled connivances. Each of these structures was as tall as the trees that they were immerging from and nearly ten paces wide. Their carriages were half again as long as the upright portion of the structures with a number of thick ropes attached to the top of the upright section running down to the back of the carriage. On each side of these wooden behemoths were hundreds of men protected by wooden blinds, pushing on long poles that extended from the sides of each carriage. They were moving these structures toward the river canyon on either side of the bridge.

"What in the name of the gods are those?" asked Metabus to no one inpaticular.

"They look like assault towers." Sarpidon said somewhat confused. "But I see no platforms for them."

Arion watched in awe as the wooden juggernauts moved ever closer to them. All of a sudden it dawned on him what it was he was seeing, and fear took hold of his guts. "Those are not siege towers, they're bridges!" he said to Sarpidon.

Sarpidon stared at the giant contraptions as understanding sunk in. "By the gods you're right. They are bridges, and they are moving them onto our flanks." he said. "We must redeploy our men before they can get them in position."

"Do so quickly general, I'll have our infantry spread out to protect our flanks." Arion said as he turned his mount around to begin the redeployment of his troops.

Sarpidon turned to Metabus and said, "Pull the archers from the rear ranks and fan them out along the south side of the bridge. I'll take the rest and spread them out to the north. The spearmen will have to hold the main road alone. The pit will help slow down the Halidonian swine."

"It shall be done my lord!" Metabus said as he rode away.

Sarpidon then rode to the front rank of archers and found their captain. "Captain Kerbasi, have your men move to the north and spread out opposite where those dogs move those monstrosities. Have them aim for the men on the push arms."

Captain Kerbasi was a short, thin man of middle years. His long black hair was streaked with white as was his close cut beard and mustache. Though lean of build, he had broad shoulders and a thick, powerful chest from decades of using the powerful Savarian longbow. He looked up at his commander from his place behind his blind and asked, "Will we not leave some bowmen here to defend this bridge my lord?"

"Nay captain, the spearmen will hold the main road bridge. I need your eagle eyed archers to stop those rolling bridges before they can get them in position." Sarpidon said. "If they get those things across the river, they will take us on our flanks and rout us with their shear numbers."

Kerbasi nodded agreement and said, "Understood general, I'll move them out immediately."

Sarpidon nodded and turned to glance to the rear of the Savarian forces. There he could see Arion dispersing the infantry troops to either flank at the quick march to help defend against the coming onslaught. Arion, he thought, was a fine leader, even if he did lack some of his own tactical expertise. Arion was a brawler, not a soldier. Sarpidon was brought out of his thoughts by the sound of men shouting. He cast his attention back across the river to the enemy position. There he saw that the Halidonian troops had begun to move up behind each of the rolling bridges, which were now moving into range of the Savarian archers.

The archers took up positions behind whatever cover they could find and were even now sighting in on the enemy soldiers pushing the bridges forward. Captain Kerbasi had taken position behind a large tree that stood nearly on the edge of the river canyon. From there, he was as close as he could get and was able to fire a rangeing shaft by which his men would be able to judge their distance more easily. The rangeing shot flew long and true as it struck earth nearly two hundred paces from the canyons edge. This still put it some hundred paces short of the rolling bridges. Other rangeing shafts were seen all along the river flying high into the morning sky and sticking into the baked earth, forming a line across the battlefield. Now it was time to wait until their enemy came into range.

The field on the east side of the river was a large slope that began at the tree line and ran down hill to the river canyon. The last thirty paces before reaching the river had a slight rise to them. This would make the pushing of the bridges into place much easier. Adwr had been planning this assault for nearly three turnings of the moon, and now all his planning was about to become reality. "I want the first wave of men on the bridges before they are fully lowered to the other side. Waste not a single moment to advance." Adwr said to his general, General Fateh.

"Worry not my prin…… I mean, my king! We will have five thousand men across before they have a chance to do more then die." The general said. "Each bridge can move five hundred men across the river in the span of a few heartbeats and with our archers firing from behind their blinds at the push poles, the Savarian bowmen will lose the advantage they have in range and will no longer have their fortifications to hide behind. It should be an easy thing to wipe them out my king."

"Very good general! Very good indeed!" Adwr said gleefully. "Have your men begin the assault."

"As you wish my king" Said General Fateh.

Turning to his aid, a young captain with a severely crooked nose, Fateh ordered, "Pass the word Captain Gotzon to move forward and begin the attack."

"Yes sir" replied the young man as he turned to do his commanders bidding.

Adwr and Fateh sat upon their mounts and watched as the giant rolling bridges began moving forward, picking up speed as the began their downhill journey. The men that had been pushing the structures forward no longer needed to push as the grade of the hill steepened; now they were pulling back on the long poles that extended from each side of the wheeled sections in an attempt to control the forward momentum of the giant constructs. This had some effect, but was far from perfect. Several men were unable to keep up with the fast moving conveyance or would stumble and fall. These unfortunate souls were either trampled by the men behind them or fell beneath the wheels and were crushed as the gargantuan structures rolled on. As the rolling bridges moved forward, the troops that had assembled in the field began to fall in behind them so once the spans were lowered, they would already be moving across.

As the bridges crossed the line of rangeing shafts that had been fired across the canyon by the Savarian archers, a hail of shafts were launched to rain death upon the men pushing the bridges forward. This however did not come to pass as most of the arrows found nothing but wood, the blinds built around the push poles did their jobs. Captain Kerbasi seeing this changed strategy. He turned to the men near him and yelled, "Do not waste shafts on the men pushing those things, shot the ropes holding them upright. We might be able to drop a few of them down before they are in position. Pass the word."

Immediately, the order to shot the ropes was passed across the battlefield. Volley after volley of arrows were launched at the ropes holding up the bridges.

Several archers used flaming arrows to strike at the ropes on one of the bridges. These had a much more profound effect on the lines as the flames burnt through the dry fibers of the rope quickly. As lines parted, the weight of the upright portion of the bridge shifted, causing the bridge to tilt to that side. This in turn caused the bridge to veer off its intended path and across the path of the bridge to the right. As the now out of control bridge crossed in front of the other, the wheels caught in the soft grass and dirt, causing it to tumble onto its side in a thunderous crash, sending broken pieces of wood and the broken bodies of men flying in all directions. Moments later the bridge whose path had been crossed slammed into the toppled one with even more spectacular results. The force of the impact caused the second bridge to fly up and over the fallen one and started it tumbling down the hill. Large pieces of wood flew across the field as the second bridge disintegrated as it cart wheeled toward the river were it tumbled over the edge of the canyon and came to a crashing halt in the water below.

Cheers broke out all along the Savarian lines at the sight of the two bridges crashing together, but the joyous mood changed quickly as the first of the rolling bridges reached its position and was quickly lowered into place. Before the far end of the span struck down to earth on the west bank of the river, hundreds of Halidonian soldiers were storming across. The Savarian archers began firing in earnest at the Halidonian's as they raced forward, but those that made it onto the bridge were protected by large side panels on the bridge. Moments after the bridge was in place, heavily armed men poured across onto the west bank and charged into the outnumbered defenders. Archers fired shot after shot at the hordes of men streaming across the bridge at them, but for every one they feathered with arrows, three more would take his place. The Savarian archers were cut down without mercy as their positions were over run. Some of the bowmen tried to make a stand firing from a tight knot, but this tactic only delayed the inevitable. Other archers seeing their comrades slaughtered, turned tail and ran for their lives, throwing away their weapons as they went. It took only a few minutes for the Halidonian troops to secure a foot hold on the west bank of the river. Several other bridges also made their way into position and the scene was repeated, archers trying desperately to fend off the attackers only to be over run by the superior numbers of the enemy.

Another of the bridges was disabled by archers, when they shot the ropes away from the upright bridge and caused it to fall a half dozen paces short of its intended mark. As the span slammed down short of the far bank, its momentum carried it forward till the leading edge of the bridge slammed into the west wall of the canyon, some three man heights below the top of the ledge. The men that had been riding on the bridge were thrown forward as the momentum stopped so abruptly, falling head long into the canyon. Dozens of soldiers began to run across the span before they realized they would not be able to gain the top of the ridge from the bridge. Seizing the moment, archers ran to the edge of the canyon and began feathering the helpless Halidonians as they tried to retreat. The archers began firing on those men at the far end first so as to cause a bottleneck on the bridge, thus making it almost impossible for those already on the bridge to fall back. Adding to the mayhem was the fact that the men trying to retreat were running head long into those that were still trying to cross over, not knowing what was happening just a few dozen paces ahead of them. The few Halidonian archers that survived the crash of the bridge tried in vain to provide protection for their comrades, but they were far less skillful with the bow and were unable to drive the Savarian archers back. Hundreds died on the worthless bridge before an orderly retreat could be made. The survivors of the debacle split ranks and moved to the other bridges to make their crossings. Of the nine rolling bridges Adwr's men had constructed, six of them had made it into position and allowed his troops to push the defenders out of their fortified positions and into a full scale retreat.

Arion was still trying to get his infantry into position to support the archers when the first of the bridges slammed down and began to disgorge hordes of Halidonian soldiers. Seeing that their well planned defensive positions were no longer of use, having been flanked by the unexpected arrival of these rolling bridges, Arion decided he had no other choice except to order his men to fall back to their secondary positions, the far end of Wild Horse Canyon, where they could use the narrow pass to their advantage and hopefully gain enough time for Conan and the rest of the army to arrive, but where was Conan?

Sarpidon watched from a small hill as the rolling bridges began to fall into position and Halidonian soldiers began charging across in great numbers. His archers were being over run by the shear number of bodies being thrown at them. The bowmen showed great courage, standing and firing into the heart of the onrushing hordes of men, but there were just too many of them to stop. Seeing that he could never hold this position, Sarpidon gave the order he would never had thought he would ever give…….. Retreat. He told his aid to pass the word to fall back toward Wild Horse Canyon and reestablish their lines there. Then he sent a messenger to alert the king of what he was doing. Sarpidon felt a knot tighten in his stomach as he looked over the battlefield one last time. Then he wheeled his mount around and rode off to prepare for the next engagement.

From all along the Savarian battle line, men began to fall back toward the canyon that split the long, high cliffs that separated the small plain along the river from the huge, flat plateau above. The canyon looked as if a giant blade had been used to slice the cliff wall in half. The retreat was orderly for the most part, archers would fall back, stop and fire several volleys into the pursuing Halidonians, allowing their comrades time to escape, and then running themselves while other archers did the same for them. There were a few places along the lines where discipline faltered and men simply ran helter skelter, making them easy prey for the blood thirsty Halidonians.

From their place on the east bank of the Triastia River, Adwr and Fateh watched with great joy and satisfaction as their troops sweep forward. The Savarian defenders were far too few to stop the great army they had spent so long in forming and training. Thousands had flocked to Adwr's banner, the promise of free land and riches turning farmers, smiths, and shop owners from all over to endure the hardship forced upon them during their training. Now all the planning was paying off with interest. The Savarian forces were in full retreat, something that had never happened before, and victory was all but assured. Adwr and his retinue rode to the head of the main road bridge and watched as his bowmen made short work of the helpless spearmen that had been given the task of holding the bridge without support from any archers. It was childs play for the Halidonian archers to strike down the spearmen from a safe distance while the Savarians tried in vain to hide behind their shields. It took little more then a few minutes before the last of the spearmen were brought down. Once this was done, long wooden planks were placed across the trenches that now held the bodies of the dead defenders. This done, Adwr and Fateh rode across the bridge and into the Green Belt.

"Well general, it would seem that our plan has worked perfectly so far. If all has gone as planned, Captain Batal and his troops should already be at the far end of Wild Horse Pass and we will have Arion and the cowardly swine he calls an army trapped." Adwr said confidently to his general.

"Aye milord, with Batal commanding the high ground at the far end of the pass, Arion will have no where to run. It will be a simple matter to wipe them out in the confines of the canyon." Fateh responded gleefully.

"Yes general, it will be. But remember, I want Arion alive. I want to hang him from the gates of my new palace in Stamitos." Adwr reminded the general.

"Of course milord, I have already given orders to all that Arion was to be taken alive. I have even offered one thousand pieces of gold to the man that captures him." Fateh said.

"One thousand pieces of gold! Are you mad! Where did you plan on finding this gold general?" Adwr said angrily.

Looking at his king with a slightly amused expression, Fateh said, "I only made the "offer" milord. I never said they would collect, after all milord, one can die most unexpectedly in battle. A misaimed arrow knows not friend from foe."

Adwr's expression changed from one of anger to one of absolute delight. "You are a very cunning man general."

"What better way of assuring Arion's capture then to offer gold." Fateh said.

Then Adwr's expression changed to a thoughtful frown, "What if Arion will not be taken alive. What if he refuses to surrender, what then?" he asked.

"He will surrender." Fateh said confidently. "When he is given the choice of having his entire "army" executed, he will give himself over to us."

"And if one of our men kills him by accident, what then?" Adwr asked

"Then that man and his entire family will be put to death." Fateh said.

Adwr nodded his head slowly as he made a quick mental evaluation of his top commander. Fateh, he thought was a brilliant and extremely vicious man. He would have to watch him more closely.

Arion watched from a small hill as his men retreated across the battlefield. He knew he would lose a great number of men if he could not slow the Halidonians down. He turned to his cavalry commander, Captain Chiron, "We have to slow down the Halidonian pursuit of our men or they will be cut down to a man. Have your horsemen form into two groups, I will lead one group, you the other. We will split up and ride to the ends of our lines. Then we will circle back around and form a break between our troops and the Halidonians. This should slow them down just enough for our people to make good their escape through the pass."

The cavalry captain looked at his king somewhat confused, "You want us to engage their infantry my lord?" he asked.

"No, not engage them, just cut a break through their advance. Give our people a little breathing room. If you find yourselves getting caught in the press, break off and head for the pass. Do not get bogged down in the may lay or you will all be lost. Do you understand?" Arion said.

Captain Chiron nodded his head, "Yes milord, slow them down without getting caught in a prolonged fight. We can do it."

Arion clamp his hand down on the captain's shoulder, "Good! Now take your group to the south and ride hard and fast. I'll take the northern flank. Good luck to you captain."

"And to you my lord." Captain Chiron said as he wheeled his mount around to pass the orders on.

A few moments later, a group of some two hundred horsemen rode up to the king's position lead by a young lieutenant. He saluted and said to the king, "Captain Chiron has explained what it is you wish us to do sire. Do you think it wise to put yourself in harms way my lord?"

Arion looked at the young man and said, "I appreciate your concern lieutenant, but I am more then aware of the danger and I would not ask another to take this risk. Now, let's move." And with no further talk, Arion and his cavalry rode hard to the northern flank to begin their run.

Captain Kerbasi was still loosing shaft after shaft into the ranks of Halidonian soldiers rushing across the bridges. With him was a group of a dozen archers and twice that of spearmen that had managed to flee the slaughter at the main road bridge. These men had formed a shield wall to protect the archers as they plied their bows with great effect. Hundreds of Halidonian's had died with Savarian arrows buried in their vitals. On several occasions, groups of soldiers would try to make organized assaults on the tight knot of men, but only succeeded in getting themselves killed. Kerbasi knew his small group could not last for too much longer. They were cut off from the rest of the Savarian troops and had no route of escape with Halidonian troops on three sides and the river canyon at their backs. It would take a miracle for them to survive.

"Captain, I'm almost out of arrows," yelled a young archer with a nasty gash on the side of his face.

"I'm running low too captain," added another man.

Looking at his own quiver, he noticed he too was down to only a dozen or so arrows. This was what an archer most feared, running out of arrows. Kerbasi looked around the area occupied by his small band of men, looking for a way out of this predicament. All around their position, Halidonian soldiers had taken cover behind the few rocks and trees big enough to hide behind while others formed walls with their shields. No where he looked did Kerbasi find an avenue of escape. There was little else they could do except surrender, which was a totally repugnant thought, or fight till they ran out of arrows and then make an attempt to force their way through the enemy, which would be suicide, but preferable to surrender. Kerbasi looked at the faces of those around him, all pleading for answers.

"We have but one choice, we have to fight our way free of this trap." Kerbasi told them. "With so few arrows left we can ill afford to waste them, so do not shoot unless you have a target. At my signal, you shield bearers will close up and form a wedge. Archers, you will fall in behind them. We will make a run for the stand of trees over yonder to the north." He said pointing at a knot of trees setting on and around a small hill. "The Halidonian dogs are thinnest there and once we reach the trees, they will be less inclined to press their attack. Archers, you will look for and retrieve any arrows you can find as we go, but don't waste time trying to pull them from the dead. If you do, you'll fall behind and will be easy prey for the dogs that are sure to be nipping at our heels. Instead, look for fallen bowmen, our or theirs, it matters not. A well aimed shaft will find its target no matter who made it."

This brought a slight laugh to the men that surrounded Kerbasi, a good sign.

"Once we reach the trees, you spearmen form a defensive perimeter facing the Halidonians. Bowmen, you will ply your weapons as best you can. Make every shaft count. Once we stop their initial charge, we should have a chance to make for the pass. Does everyone understand?"

All heads nodded in understanding, then they began to move into position for their mad rush for the trees ……. and safety. Kerbasi pulled two of his better archers and three of the spearmen aside, "You men will stay close to me. We will provide a rear guard, such as we can under the cirrcustances. We will try and slow the pursuit of the Halidonians from behind while the others move forward." They all nodded, understanding that they would most likely die very soon, but following their leader despite it.

When at last the Savarian soldiers were in place, Kerbasi gave the order to move. Like a large centipede, the group of soldiers moved toward the trees at a quick pace. The spearmen held their shields high, forming a kind of "shell" over and around themselves and the archers, who were grabbing up dozens of arrows stuck in the ground or laying about that had been shot by the Halidonian bowmen. Several of the archers found quivers of arrows, some still nearly full lying on the ground where their owners had discarded them when they began their flight from the battle, while still more quivers were retrieved from the bodies of bowmen that had fallen in battle, Halidonian arrows having taken them down.

One unfortunate bowman stopped to pull a full quiver of arrows from a dead comrade, but could not get it free. He didn't realize until it was too late that the arrow that had taken the mans life had also pierced the quiver on his back, holding it tightly to its dead owner. The bowmen continued to pull at the quiver, not realizing that a Halidonian archer had loosed a shaft at him. It hit the determined bowman in the throat, ending his struggle with the quiver.

Kerbasi and his rear guard moved along as quickly as they could, providing cover for their comrades. As he had expected, the Halidonians were quick to react to their escape attempt. Those behind the group had broke from cover and began pursuing them at a dead run.

This was a fatal mistake!

Kerbasi and his picked men moved out with the rest of the group, but after only a few paces, they stopped and began plying their bows with deadly results. A dozen Halidonians dropped to the ground dead, having sprouted arrows from their bodies. The few of them lucky enough to find cover avoided the fate of their fellows. Those stayed out of sight of the deadly bowmen, even after they began moving again.

Kerbasi and his men caught up with the others, who had come to a stop due to a small group of Halidonian archers that had taken up position in the very grove of trees they themselves were heading for.

"Why have you stopped?" Kerbasi demanded.

"The Halidonians hold the trees. We can go no farther!" one of the spearmen said as an arrow impacted his shield.

Kerbasi looked at the man for a moment, then carefully glanced at the grove of trees. He could see no more then a handful of archers there. He turned to look behind them and saw the Halidonians they had chased to ground had rediscovered their courage and were moving up behind them again, thou much more cautiously this time. Kerbasi knew they had to reach the trees if they were to survive. He made a quick decision, turning to his senior man he said, "Sala, count to three and then follow me. We will run and fire, just like we use to do, do you remember?"

The man named Sala, looked lost for a moment, then memory kicked in and a broad smile crossed his dirt encrusted face. "Aye, I remember! Do you think that little bit of foolishness will work Captain?"

Kerbasi shrugged his shoulders, saying "Who knows! But I see little choice." Then he looked at the others around him. "The rest of you listen to me. When we begin running, you all begin counting. When you reach ten, follow after us as fast as you can. Do not run in a straight line, but more like a serpent crawls, back and forth." Kerbasi said as he drew a squiggly line in the dirt. "Do you understand?"

They all nodded, but Kerbasi was sure most of them did not. He had no more time to explain, as the Halidonians at their rear were gaining ground on them. He moved to the front of the shield wall with Sala right behind him. He turned and looked at his old friend and smiled. "A bottle of the finest wine that I get more of them then you!"

Sala laughed and replied, "Tis not a fair wager, since you'll have an early start on me, but if we both live to see our homes again, I'll buy you a bottle."

Kerbasi nodded and winked at him, then he suddenly jumped up and over the wall of shields and began running toward the trees.

The Halidonian archers were caught off guard by the sudden appearance of what looked like a man committing suicide. A single Savarian bowman had broke out of the wall of shields and was now charging toward them. Certainly the man had gone mad! The leader of the small group of archers that had made their way to the trees began laughing and asked, "Who wants to put this miserable lout out of his misery?"

An older man with no teeth and only one ear stepped forward and said, "Let me have him! I haven't shot a single one of those Savarian dogs that wasn't running away from me yet today. I'd like to see his face when my arrow takes him."

The old man stepped up next to a tree and tried to take aim, but the man was running all over the place. The old man kept following the runner, waiting for just the right moment to release his shot. Unfortunately for him, he was so intent on aiming that he failed to see the running man draw up his bow and release a shaft of his own. The arrow from the runner went clean thru the old mans neck and hit another man that had been standing directly behind him. Both dropped to the ground dead.

The leader of the group was shocked! He had never seen such a thing in all his years as a soldier. He turned back toward the running archer and found that there were now two of them running hither and yon, closing the gap between them. The leader began to give an order to his men, but before he could utter a single word, he was hit with two arrows, one in the chest and one in the groin. He fell over clutching at the shafts as his men stood transfixed with horror, simply staring at their dying leader.

More arrows were sent flying by Kerbasi and Sala, each finding a human mark. By the time the two expert archers reached the clump of trees, all of the Halidonians lay dead or dying. Kerbasi turned to see how his men were doing, if they were on their way. He could see them moving swiftly toward the trees, putting some distance between them and their pursuers, but then more Halidonian archers began firing shafts at the retreating Savarians. He and Sala lined up at the leading edge of the trees and with their superior range and skill, they were able to fend off the Halidonian bowmen.

Finally, the spearmen and the other archers made it to the trees. The spearmen nearly collapsed from exhaustion as they had been fighting and running since the battle was joined and were clad in nearly fifty pounds of armor and carrying their shields and spears. The archers by comparison were winded, but ready to fight as they wore little more then cloth leggings, wool tunic, and knee high leather boots. Some wore light, leather armor over their tunics, but most did not. The archers took up positions around the grove, covering every approach.

"How did we fare Sala?" Kerbasi asked. Sala looked around the trees, taking a quick head count.

"Looks as thou we lost just one." He reported.

Kerbasi stepped out from the trees and looked back the way they had come. There, some five hundred paces out, he saw one of the men that had been with them. It looked as if he had been hit by several arrows. Kerbasi then looked at the approaching Halidonians. Hundreds of them were heading toward them, all in search of blood. It was then that he caught sight of a Halidonian archer near the body of the fallen man from their group. He was stripping him of his bow and other valuables. Kerbasi was furious! He drew out an arrow and knocked it with great deliberation. Then he drew back on the massive bow, pulling it back farther then he had ever done before, and with careful aim, let fly his deadly missile. The other archers watched as their captain let loose what appeared to be a vain shot made in frustration. None among the trees could see the arrow as it streaked away ….. none except Kerbasi! Then, after what seemed like hours, the man that was stripping their fallen comrade suddenly straightened up and began staggering away, seeming to clutch at his throat before falling down. Every man that witnessed that shot would tell of it the rest of their lives. Kerbasi simply turned and walked slowly back into the trees.

Arion and his cavalry made their way to the far northern end of the battlefield then turn east toward the Triastia and the fighting. He was heading for a point just to the north of the first rolling bridge where he intended to begin his charge thru the ranks of Halidonians, hoping to give some relief to his beleaguered and outnumbered troops. With Captain Chiron doing the same thing from the opposite end of the battlefield, he was sure that his men would be able to retreat to the relative safety of Wild Horse Canyon. Once there, they could hold off the Halidonians forever. But first they had to save the army from the butchery that the Halidonians were known for. As they began heading toward their starting point, Arion noticed a large group of Halidonians heading for a small stand of trees to the north of the first bridge. He wondered what they could be doing; perhaps they were looking for timber to build siege engines to attack Wild Horse Canyon, thou none of the trees he could see were large enough to be of any real use. Then he noticed something else. There were Halidonian soldiers already surrounding the knot of trees and archers firing into them.

"Lieutenant, do you see those trees yonder? Can you see what they are doing?" Arion asked.

The young officer squinted into the distance, focusing on the small stand of trees indicated. At first he could see nothing, then he caught the glint of sunlight off metal from inside the tree line. Then he saw what looked to be a man shooting a bow. A Savarian double recurved bow!

"My king, the trees there hold Savarian soldiers. I can see several of our men fighting there. What should we do?" the young man asked.

Arion looked from the trees to the lieutenant, then said in a stern voice, "What do you think we should do lieutenant? Leave them there to be butchered?" he said sarcastically. "I am going to aid our comrades in yonder trees while you complete our mission." Arion tuned to his horsemen and said, "I need twenty men to ride down there with me and pull our brothers out. Who is with me?"

Arion's heart nearly burst with pride as every hand was trust into the air, even the young lieutenants.

"My thanks to you all, but I only need twenty. The rest of you will ride with Lieutenant Qualls and complete our first mission." He told them, then he pointed at the first group of riders. "You men will come with me, the rest of you will continue on. Lieutenant, take command and carry out your mission."

The young officer saluted his king and then led the main body of horsemen off to do their kings bidding. Arion looked at those he had chosen.

"Here is what we will do." Arion began. "We will not engage the enemy if at all possible. What I want you to do is ride as fast as you can into the trees. Once we are there, we will get those men out and ride for the canyon. There will be no time to get them mounted so do this, have them grab hold of the pommel of your saddles with their right hands. Lash their hands to your saddle so that they will not lose their hold. Then tell them to hold their shields with there left hands. This will give them and you some protection from any arrows that might come your way. Then have them run along side your horse while pulling up on your saddle. This should allow you and them to move along at a steady trot until we are out of range of their archers. Once we are far enough away, we can get them mounted behind us and make our way to the canyon. Do you all understand?"

They all nodded that they did, so Arion turned to see the situation. He noticed a gap in the Halidonian line at the far northern end of the trees. They could ride in, get their men and be out before they could close the gap. Or at least he hoped they could!

"At right men of Savaria, let's ride!" He said and spurred his mount forward toward the cluster of trees where his men fought for their lives.

Kerbasi was not too sure that leading his men to the trees was such a good idea. Thou they did provide a good deal more cover; they also were much more difficult to defend. Several times, Halidonian soldiers had made their way into the trees and had to be dealt with at close quarters, something most of his bowmen were unaccustomed to. He had lost two of his archers and a spearman to these incursions and several others had been slightly wounded in the hand to hand fighting. Luckily the bulk of the Halidonian forces were unable to close in on them due to the extremely accurate fire of the Savarian archers. Only the fact that they far outclassed their Halidonian counterparts had kept them safe so far, but this advantage would not last long if they continued to use their arrows at the present rate. They were once again running low. It seemed to him that their luck was running out as fast as their arrows.

The call from one of the spearmen from the northwest end of the grove caught Kerbasi's attention.

"Captain look! Horsemen approaching from yonder hills! They look like ours!" the young man yelled, pointing off to some low hills to the west. Kerbasi ran too where the man was and looked to the area where he was pointing. At first he saw nothing, but then he saw a group of horsemen coming up over a rise and his heart began to race. Not only were they Savarian, but at the fore of the group was none other then King Arion himself! Kerbasi called out to his men, "Men of Savaria, your prayers have been answered! Not only is salvation on the way, but Arion himself leads the charge!"

A loud cheer was heard throughout the trees as the word spread of help being on the way. Kerbasi ordered his men to stay vigilante and not to forget that they were still surrounded and outnumbered. They were still far from safe.

The Savarian troops in the grove of trees were not the only ones that had noticed the approaching horsemen. The leader of the Halidonian reinforcements saw the large group of cavalry ride up to the top of the ridge to the northwest too. He knew that, if they were to charge down upon his troops, they would be wiped out since there were few places to hide on the western bank of the river. It was then that the horsemen split their force with the larger group heading south. This made the Halidonian commander happy, because he knew that if he could capture a cavalry unit with his foot soldiers; the king would be very pleased. He would probably be given a promotion if not lands and titles. The thought of this made him urge his men on faster.

On the northwest side of the stand of trees, a group of a dozen Halidonian foot soldiers had taken up position just out of range of the dangerous Savarian bowmen. They were nestled into a small, rock outcropping making sure the Savarian scum could not escape. From their position they would be able to cut off any attempt to get away along the edge of the river canyon or the narrow path that lead up thru the hills behind them and over to the giant cleft in the cliffs to the south that the Savarian's called "Wild Horse Canyon." The sergeant in charge had his people stay out of sight, hoping to entice them into making a run for it past them so they could easily cut them down. He sat there thinking of what he would do to those Savarian dogs once they tried to make a break when he heard the sound of hoof beats. He couldn't tell what direction the sound was coming from, the sound was echoing off the rocks around them far too much. He peeked over the top of the rocks he was hiding behind, looking down toward the trees but saw nothing. He turned to look behind just in time to see the lead elements of Savarian cavalry ride up over the ridge of the path and head straight for him. The sergeant was just able to dive behind a large boulder as the leader of the horsemen swung a huge sword at his head. The blade just missed shearing off the top of the sergeant's head, instead taking off just the top layers of his hair. The men with him were not so lucky however. The horsemen worked their mounts in among the rocks with great skill, riding down the Halidonians easily, then they continued on toward the trees below. Only the sergeant with the now nearly bald head survived.

Arion rode thru the Halidonians quickly, not stopping to engage them, but simply riding them down if they could not find cover. He did take a half-hearted swipe at a rather dirty looking soldier with long black hair, but the man was swift enough to dive aside, narrowly escaping death. Arion continued forward, his only thought being to get to his men in the trees and to get them away from there. To his right, he could see a large group, perhaps five or six hundred in number running at a full sprint to try and reach the trees before they could. At the pace they were moving, it would be very close as to wither he and his men could rescue the others and be away before they arrived or not. It mattered not for he would not leave his men to die without trying.

The horsemen entered the tree line just as the large group of Halidonians came within reach of the Savarian bows. Arion rode to the south end of the trees along with most of his horsemen. There he found Captain Kerbasi and nearly a dozen of his archers plying their weapons with deadly accuracy, firing into the mass of Halidonians that were quickly approaching.

"Captain, time to leave!" Arion yelled.

Kerbasi looked over his shoulder then fired another shaft into the oncoming foe. Then he swung his bow over his head so that it hung from his back and ran to the king's horse.

"Greetings milord, tis nice of you and your friends to drop by!" Kerbasi said with more humor in his tone then he truly felt. "Would you be here by chance to help my men and I depart this lovely little forest before yonder dogs try and chew our bones!"

Arion favored his captain of archery with a smile and said, "I thought you could use a bit of help. Grab a hold of my saddle and run along side. As soon as we're clear of those dogs, we'll get you up behind me and be away proper."

Kerbasi knew exactly what the king wanted him to do, having used the technique several times in the past. He grabbed hold of the pommel on the king's saddle and began running alongside. Ahead of the king and Kerbasi, a number of other men could be seen doing the exact same thing while others simple ran without the assistance of the horsemen. Just as the first horsemen were leaving the trees, a hail of arrows darkened the sky and rained down upon them. Horse, rider and runners were hit buy the volley of shafts, taking a handful of them down. Arion and Kerbasi were able to stop and take cover before the second volley was launched as were a dozen other horsemen and their runners. Of the twenty horsemen that had entered the trees with Arion, eight now lay dead or dying from arrow wounds or from having their mounts fall upon them.

Arion turned to see that the first of the Halidonian troops that he spotted earlier were now entering the trees. He ordered his men to dismount and fight on foot, since the closed in quarters of the grove would make it too difficult to fight from horseback. He then had the spearmen form a shield wall in front of the archers. It was not what one would call a strong defense, but it would have to do. Arion knew this would probably be his last fight and he wanted to make it a good one. He had just one more thought before the red haze of battle took control of his mind …… Where was Conan!

And Sarpidon!

At the mouth of Wild Horse Canyon, Sarpidon sat upon his horse and watched the chaos on the field below. He was still in shock as to how easily the Halidonians had over come their defense's and over run his men. Now all he could do was watch as his men tried to escape the slaughter being reaped by the wild dogs of Adwr's army. Of the nearly nine thousand men he had led there three days before, little more then half had made it back to the pass so far. What was even more disturbing was the fact that the king was missing. He had gone to redeploy the infantry to the flanks so as to lend support to the archers and spearmen, but had not been seen since. Sarpidon thought about sending men to look for him, but could not afford to lose anymore men then he already had. His first responsibility was to protect the pass that would lead to the great plain of the green belt.

As he continued to scan the battlefield, he caught notice of what appeared to be a unit of Savarian cavalry riding up from the south. They were cutting a wide swath thru the Halidonian ranks, causing them to stop and fall back and giving his men time to make good there escape. Then he noticed another group of cavalry coming from the north doing the exact same thing. The two groups meet in the middle of the battlefield and then turned toward the pass, attacking any Halidonians they came upon on their way. It was a brilliant tactic. The Halidonians had been forced to stop their advance for only a few moments, but it was enough for his troops to break clean and put some distance between them and the Halidonians.

Sarpidon turned to a man holding a bow and asked, "How many of you do you have archer?"

The man, who had been engrossed by the scene below looked up blankly, then said in response, "There are but twenty of us here milord. We were to take up places here in the mouth of the pass in the event the army needed to retreat we could lend support."

Sarpidon gave the man an incredulous look then asked, "Well, if it has escaped your keen military mind and you haven't noticed, we ARE retreating! Now get your men up here and have them start putting their shafts on top of those Halidonian scum before they get close enough to do it to you!"

The fool archer waved for his men to move forward to the blinds they had built and began plying their deadly fire down on the enemy. This gave even more pause to the pursuing Halidonians. Though the battle still waged, the Halidonian host had for the moment been stopped.

It was at that time that the first of the cavalry units came galloping up the slope to where Sarpidon sat. The Officer in command, Captain Chiron gave an exhausted salute and made his report.

"Milord, we have completed our mission. We were successful in slowing the enemy advance and providing a bit of breathing room for our troops."

Sarpidon looked at the man and asked, "Who gave you this mission Chiron?"

The captain looked stunned by the question. "Why, the king did milord! He bid me take half my force to the south while he took the rest to the north."

"The king took them?" Sarpidon asked sharply. "Why was I not told of this plan? And where is the king?"

"I know not general." Chiron said. "I saw the other unit heading toward us, but I can't say for sure that I seen the king amongst them."

Just then the northern group rode up the slope, a young lieutenant in the lead. There was no sign of Arion.

Sarpidon rode down the slope to meet them with Chiron right behind him.

"Where is the king?" He yelled at the young officer.

The man was caught off guard by the question, but quickly regained his composure. "The king took twenty men to pull some troops out of a knot of trees at the far north end of the battlefield. He ordered me to continue on with our mission. I have not seen him since!"

"What "knot of trees" do you speak of? Sarpidon asked angrily, looking off in the distance to the north.

The young officer pointed to a small group of trees at the very far end of the battlefield. There Sarpidon could see what looked like a fierce battle taking place. His eagle eyes focused in on a flash of purple and gold flying in the air just inside the tree line. Sarpidon immediately recognized the battle standard of Arion. He also saw nearly five hundred Halidonians surrounding the small grove. He knew that even if Arion was alive, there was no way he would be able to hold out long enough for help to arrive. There was nothing more he could do for his king, so he had to turn his full attention to the defense of Savaria.

"Shall we ride to our lords rescue general?" Chiron asked, expecting the general to lead the way. He was shocked beyond words at the answer.

"Nay captain. There is naught we can do for Arion now. We have a more important task now."

"What could be more important then saving the king?" the young lieutenant asked in a voice thick with disbelief.

Sarpidon turned on the young man quickly and said, "Saving our kingdom! That is what is more important! Do you have a problem with that ….. LIEUTENANT!"

The lieutenant was angry beyond all belief. He could not believe that the commanding general of the army was abandoning the king without even trying to save him.

"COWARD!" the young officer yelled at Sarpidon. "If you lack the courage to go to your king's aid, then stay here safe and sound with the women. I will not abandon the king!"

Then the young man wheeled his mount around and rode off at breakneck speed, heading for the grove at the north end of the field.

Sarpidon's face turned scarlet with anger. How dare that whelp of a boy call HIM coward ….. and in front of his officers. He would not let such an insult go unpunished. He swung down off his mount and strode over to one of the archers that were firing down on the Halidonians. Sarpidon snatched the bow out of the startled mans hands and grabbed up an arrow from a standing quiver. He placed the arrow to the string and looked down at the fast moving rider. He raised the bow, taking aim carefully.

"General stop!" yelled Chiron from his saddle.

Sarpidon wheeled around swiftly, arrow pointed at Chiron's chest. Then in a voice that was more a growl then words, he said, "Do not interfere captain, unless you've tired of living!"

Chiron held his hands clear of his weapons and said in a calm voice, "Milord, he is young and foolish. There is no need to do this. If he goes to the king's aid, he will surely die. There is no reason for you to do this."

Sarpidon looked at the cavalry officer with absolute hatred and told him, "No man call's me coward and lives to tell of it. I will have my vengeance! And any who would try and keep me from it will suffer the same fate as that one!"

With that said, Sarpidon turned back to see the young lieutenant nearly four hundred paces away. Sarpidon raised the bow and pulled back the string to an almost unbelievable length. Then he released. The arrow shot into the sky, disappearing from site. Chiron was sure that the young man was out of range by the time Sarpidon let fly with his shot, but every man there would swear what happened next was impossible. The young lieutenant suddenly fell from his saddle, rolling in the dirt and coming to a halt. Dead from an arrow in the back of the neck. An arrow shot by Sarpidon!

Sarpidon handed the bow back to the archer he took it from. The man could do nothing but look at it, not believing what he had just witnessed. Then Sarpidon mounted his horse and looked at each of the men that were there.

"Know this, no matter how far you may think to run, my wrath has no bounds. You are never out of my reach. Remember that!"

He then turned his horse about and rode off thru the pass that led to the top of the canyon.

In the small grove of trees, Arion and his men fought with fierceness unimaginable. Archers fired shafts one after another into the on rushing hordes of Halidonians, at times releasing their shots mere feet from their targets. When the bowmen ran out of arrows to shoot, they began fighting with daggers while using their bows to block the sword thrusts of the enemy.

The spearmen plied their weapons with deadly results as well, stabbing and trusting their long, thick shafted spears at the enemy as they came close. Many a Halidonian meet their fate on the end of those giant blades.

But the weight of numbers were beginning to take their toll as one by one, the Savarian defenders began to fall. An archer, fending off two swordsmen with his bow, was taken down by an arrow shot from a Halidonian archer, while just a few feet away, one of the cavalry men that had rode in with Arion was overrun by four more Halidonian's wielding swords and mace's.

Arion knew they could not hold out much longer. He wondered if he should order his men to make a break for it or try and hold until help arrived. Certainly Sarpidon would send help when he found out what had happened. Certainly one of the men of the cavalry unit he had sent across the battlefield would tell Sarpidon where they were. They just needed to hold on a little longer.

"Milord, they close in on all sides of us! What should we do?" a young archer asked as he fired off his last shaft.

Arion looked at the man and then at the mass of men moving toward them, there seemed to be little choice as to what to do.

"Make peace with the gods my friend, for I fear we will be joining our ancestors very soon."

Then a loud commotion at the far end of the trees caught Arion's eye. He was unsure as to what it was, but it had definitely got the attention of the Halidonians too!

The Halidonian soldiers were hot for the blood of the trapped Savarian dogs. They had them surrounded and now, with the fresh troops that had made their way there, they would move in for the kill!

Killing Savarians was always good sport thought the leader of the group, Rheil, but if his eyes had not lied to him, within this small forest was a great prize for he would swear before all the gods he had seen the Savarian king ride into the woods just as he and his men approached. If this was true, and he could capture him alive, Rheil thought he would be greatly rewarded. But he must take the Savarian sovereign alive! He would be of no value dead. In truth, it would probably be disastrous if he were to be killed. Adwr was quite adamant about capturing the Savarian king alive. The Halidonian soldiers were given strict orders not to harm the Savarian king, but accidents did happen.

Rheil had his men spread out around the entire grove, cutting off all avenues of escape, then he had them move in slowly, making sure of their foes identity, so as not to kill the king by mistake. To the north, a group of horsemen had tried to make a break from the trees, but were taken down by a group of archers that had taken up position near by. Luckily for them, the Savarian king was not amongst the dead.

The sounds of fighting could be heard from inside the tree line. Rheil knew it was the vagabonds that had initially trapped the Savarians in the trees pressing their attack. He had little doubt that the Savarians could handle them with little trouble since they were not well trained or disciplined, being mostly farmers and shop keepers pressed into service by Adwr, but once again, one of them could accidentally kill the Savarian king. And that would not be acceptable!

It was then that Rheil heard the sound of a great number of horses, coming hard and fast in their direction. He turned and looked about the battlefield for the source of the sound, but did not see any cavalry anywhere near them.

Then he saw them.

On the Halidonian side of the river, heading for the first of the rolling bridges, a large contingent of cavalry soldiers were riding hard to join the battle. But Rheil was not happy to see these horsemen approach, no in fact he was quite disturbed by their appearance because they were not Halidonian cavalry, but Savarian! And they looked as if they were in the mood for a real fight!

On the east bank of the Triastia River, Conan and his regiment had finally arrived! They had been held up by the events at the main road crossing a few days past and by a small skirmish with a Halidonian patrol, but know they had arrived and were thirsting for action!

Conan stopped his troops a short distance from the first of the rolling bridges to have a look at the battlefield and what he saw was not good. He could see the Savarian host retreating up thru a long, narrow pass with the whole of the Halidonian army in pursuit.

"That must be Wild Horse Canyon." He said to his lieutenant.

"Yes sir, that it is!" the young man confirmed.

Conan looked across the small plain leading up from the river to the canyon and seen it was covered with the bodies of hundreds of Savarian soldiers and nearly three times as many Halidonians. It was clear that Arion and Sarpidon had put up one ferocious fight before being forced from the field. The Halidonians would pay dearly for what they had done here this day.

It was then that a soldier got Conan's attention.

"Captain! Look there!" he yelled, pointing to a stand of trees not far from the bridge they were next to.

There Conan saw a large force of Halidonians converging on a wooded area. There were a good number of bodies spread out between the bridge head and the trees. Then Conan caught site of a purple banner in amongst the trees and instantly knew it was Arion's. He turned in his saddle and yelled back to his men, "Warriors of Savaria! In those trees, your king fights. What say we join him!"

A loud cheer went up as Conan led his troops to cross the river and made for the trees.

Rheil seen the Savarian cavalry stop at the bridge and for a fleeting moment thought they may turn and run. But then their leader, a huge man, led them across the bridge and straight toward he and his men. What had been a great opportunity for promotion and fame, had just turned into what was sure to be the worst …… and possibly the last day of his life! He began yelling to his men to fall back and form ranks, but there was far too much confusion. Rheil knew he could not allow himself to be caught out in the open against cavalry or they would be cut to shreds, so he began yelling for his men to move into the trees.

Arion could hear someone yelling for the Halidonians to pull back and reform, but for the life of him could not understand why for they were near to overrunning his small band of men. Whatever was going on beyond his site must be fairly serious! Many of the Halidonians pressed the attack on Arion's small band, but an increasing number began to pull back from the fray and head for the tree line. Confusion seemed to have taken hold of them.

Arion decided to take full advantage of their confusion, ordering his men to tighten their formation and make for the northern end of the wooded area, hoping they could make their way out of the trees and into the rocky hillside just beyond, where they could more easily make a stand and possibly make a run for the pathway that led back toward Wild Horse Canyon. It was a risky plan, but it was all they had. The men of his group made their way back to where Arion was and then started to move slowly to the northern end of the trees. It was then that the flow of Halidonian soldiers reversed again and they began charging back toward the small band of Savarians, only it was not a well ordered attack, but more a haphazard retreat from something. Halidonian soldiers ran head long into the well organized Savarians and were dispatched without much effort. But soon, dozens more Halidonians were running at the greatly outnumbered Savarians and they were finally overwhelmed.

Arion and Kerbasi stood back to back, fighting off the hordes of Halidonians that came within range of their blades. Kerbasi had long ago ran out of arrows, so he took up a pair of long bladed swords which were of no further use to their owners and fought with amazing skill for a bowmen. Arion wielded his sword with far greater skill then his archery captain and made short work out of a number of Halidonian fools. The other members of the Savarian survivors fought hard as well, but one by one, the greater numbers of the Halidonians began to prevail. Soon there were only a handful of Savarians left. Arion was sure this would be his last battle. It was at that moment that an arrow from a Halidonian archer found its way thru the trees and struck the Savarian king in the chest, penetrating his armor and sinking deep into him. Arion yelled in pain and anger as he fell back against a tree. A Halidonian soldier with a large mace saw this and moved in for the kill, but was stopped in mid swing by the broken spear of one of the Savarian spearmen, who had had his belly ripped open moments before and was lying on the ground, trying in vain to hold in his own vitals. Another Halidonian moved in on the king, but he was stopped by Kerbasi, who had taken up a position over the injured king.

The end seemed to be just heartbeats away, when the loud sounds of hoof beats could be heard coming closer. The Halidonians, who seemed ready to snatch victory, now began to run away in all directions as if suddenly the ground they stood upon had become too hot for them. Kerbasi watched in shock as they ran away, not understanding why, but thankful for it.

It was then that Kerbasi saw the first of the men on horseback moving thru the trees toward them. At first he thought it was a group of Halidonians, coming to finish them off. But then he saw the giant of a man that was leading them and knew who it was.

"Conan, you made it!" Kerbasi said happily. "We thought you might never get here."

"I was held up by some of our Halidonian friends, but I'm here now and ready to fight." Conan said to the archery captain. "Where is Arion?"

Kerbasi turned and pointed to what looked like a lifeless body lying near the base of a large tree. Several men with various wounds of their own were kneeling down beside it. Conan dismounted and walked over to where the man laid. Arion's face was gray-white from blood loss and pain, but he still managed a faint smile when he saw his newest captain arrive.

"You're late Captain." He said weakly.

"I was entertaining some of your Halidonian friends and was delayed." Conan jibbed. "How fair you Arion? Is it serious?"

Arion glanced down at the arrow sticking out of his chest and said, "This little thing? It's more of an irritant then anything. It hit nothing vital, so I should recover in time."

"We'll get you back to Stamitos as soon as we finish up with Lazar and his Halidonians!" Conan told him.

"It's not Lazar. It is his son, Adwr that is responsible for all this. Adwr killed his father and started this war. He has gone totally mad Conan!" Arion said with difficulty.

"It matters not who started all this, so long as we are victorious." Conan said. "I will have some of my men take you back across the river where they can treat your wounds. The rest of us will take care of this Adwr and his dogs."

With that, Conan dispatched a hundred men to take Arion and the other survivors from the battle amongst the trees back across the river and to the relative safety of a grove of trees on the Halidonian side of the Triastia. Then he sent his lieutenant across the river with two hundred men with the job of first getting rid of all of the rolling bridges by either dragging them away or by burning them. Then when this was done, he and his men would set up a defensive position at the main bridge and prevent any Halidonians from escaping back across the river.

Conan and the rest of his regiment stood ready to attack the Halidonian forces from the flank once they had begun. It was his hope that when the Halidonians became aware of what was happening to their bridges, they would split their forces and thus make it easier for his greatly outnumbered troops to deal with them.

He was not disappointed. As soon as the Halidonians realized what was happening behind them, large numbers of them began running toward the bridges. Flames as high as the surrounding forest began shooting into the sky after the Savarian soldiers set fire to each of the rolling bridges. To their surprise, as soon as the Halidonians came within range, a hail of arrows came raining down on them. Dozens of them fell to the earth with shafts protruding from their bodies. Those few with shields tried to protect themselves, but were only marginally successful. After a few more volleys, those Halidonians that were still able began to pull back, abandoning any hopes of stopping the fires that consumed the bridges.

With the Halidonians in retreat from the bridges, Lieutenant Narai left only a few of his archers at each of the bridges while he took the rest of his detachment and began building fortifications around the Halidonian side of the main bridge. There would only be one route of escape for the Halidonians now, and that would mean going thru Narai and his well entrenched troops.

Conan sat his mount amongst the trees and watched as Narai and his men set fire to the rolling bridges. They had taken several large containers of oil, used mainly for lamps or cooking, and poured them all over the wooden bridges. Once they struck steel to flint, the bridges made quite a nice sized blaze.

"Now that's what I call a job well done!" Kerbasi said, sitting on his own horse next to the giant Cimmerian.

Conan said nothing to this; his whole focus was on a knot of Halidonians near the rear of the attackers. There were several large banners and standards among this group. This had to be where Adwr was.

The flames from the bridges continued to intensify as the wood became fully involved. The smell of burning wood and oil began to spread across the battlefield as the smoke rose high into the sky. This caught the attention of a large number of Halidonians, including Adwr and Fateh.

"Get back here you miserable cowards!" Adwr yelled as he watched whole units of his army turn and run back toward the bridges. "Get back here I say!"

It was then that Adwr and Fateh saw the bridges aflame.

"My lord, the Savarian dogs have slipped in behind us and are burning our bridges. Should I send more men to stop them?" Fateh asked.

"Let them burn!" Adwr said dismissively. "We have no need of them any longer. We are moving forward, always forward. Do you hear me Fateh? Let them have Halidonia for all I care. I will simply take over all of Savaria and make that my base for conquest."

"As you wish my king." Fateh said.

Fateh wasn't sure if he believed all the hype Prince Adwr was spewing forth, but he had thrown his lot in with the prince when he ordered his men to go after the Savarian diplomatic caravan and bring back the Savarian queen and princess. Adwr had desired the princess for years and when she turned down his advances, he went mad with rage. Then when his father, King Lazar, refused to seize her for him, Adwr murdered his father and claimed the throne for himself.

Fateh knew if he didn't do as the prince said, he would most likely end up dead at the hands of one of his own ambitious subordinates trying to curry favor with the mad prince, so Fateh sent troops to ambush the Savarians. But when they failed, he decided to save his own skin, and had all of those who survived the debacle executed. Then he convinced Adwr to invade the "Green Belt", telling him he should not let the princess get away and that by taking the "Green Belt" he would force the Savarians to take the field against him and he could demand the girl be given up to him to stave off war between the two nations.

Unfortunately, this did not happen either. The Savarians had beaten them to the punch and had marched into the "Green Belt" before he and his army could get there. Thus, Fateh was forced to improvise a new strategy. First he sent one regiment north to the main road crossing to act as a decoy, hoping to lure the Savarians into placing the bulk of their forces there. This would allow him to come up from the south and flank the foolish Savarians. A good plan …… except that the Savarians had seen thru this deception and had moved their main force to the southern road and sent a flanking force of their own to cut off any escape. Now they held the high ground At Wild Horse Canyon and the bridge across the Triastia.

Fateh could see that they now had little hope winning this battle, let alone of fulfilling Adwr's delusions of conquering the world. He would have to convince his mad prince to abandon his dreams of glory and retreat before things became any worse.

It was then that things went from bad to worse for the Halidonians.

Conan had seen all he needed of the Halidonian army. They were now in near total disarray, with people running in all directions, officers shouting orders that none of the soldiers paid any attention to. They had fallen into utter chaos. Just what Conan had been wanting!

"Men of Savaria. Tis time to reap your vengeance upon the Halidonian swine that did murder your brethren." Conan shouted as he pointed toward the Halidonians. "Let not one of them leave this field without knowing your wraith!"

A loud cheer went up from more then seven hundred enraged Savarian throats.

Conan quieted them with a gesture and said to them.

"Remember Arion's command; Adwr is to be taken alive! Ten gold pieces for the man that brings him to me."

"What if he won't be taken alive?" someone yelled from the rear.

"Then you'll only get one piece of gold!" Conan jibbed.

This brought a gale of laughter.

Conan drew his sword, a long, thick bladed broadsword of the finest quality steel. A gift from Arion patterned after the blade he had defended queen and princess with. The original blade was found to be cracked in several places and was no longer serviceable. He raised the great blade above his head and in a voice that was more akin to the roar of a lion then any utterance of a human being, ordered his men to attack.

A wave of blood thirsty Savarian horsemen poured out of the wooded area to the north of the battlefield causing the very ground beneath the feet of the Halidonians to tremble. This was the first indication that they faced an enemy on their flank. Those who saw the charging cavalry were overcome by fear and ran back toward the bridges, hoping to escape back across the Triastia to lose themselves in the trees and underbrush. What they found were the burnt out remains of the rolling bridges and the bodies of dozens of their comrades that had tried to stop the flames only minutes before. They too came under the shafts of the Savarian bowmen before retreating out of range. With no place to run and no where to hide, many of the Halidonians simply threw down their weapons and kneeled down to await their fate.

"Milord look!" Fateh yelled as he saw the new threat of the Savarian cavalry charging toward them.

Adwr had been watching his troops attempting to advance on the Savarian held pass leading up to the huge, fertile plain of the "Green Belt. He was dreaming of his empire and how the whole world would be his when the loud voice of his general cut thru his revere. He turned to Fateh ready to order his execution for disturbing his daydreams when he saw the reason for Fateh's insistence.

"By Mitra, where did they come from?" Adwr said.

"They came from yonder trees." Fateh said pointing to the forested area to the north. "My prince, we must pull back and retreat back across the river. We have no hope of defeating the Savarians if we can't get off this blasted plain. We must go back and regroup!"

Enlightenment became apparent in Adwr's eyes as he seemed to awaken from his dreams of grandeur and recognized the situation they now found themselves in. They faced a well entrenched enemy that held a well defended, narrow pass in front of them and a large contingent of heavily armed and armored cavalry on their flank. The only hope of saving himself and his army was to retreat to the safety of the east bank of the Triastia.

"General, sound the retreat!" Adwr said in a voice totally devoid of any of the madness he had displayed only moments before. "We will pull back to our side of the river and hold. If necessary, we will burn the bridge ourselves."

Having said that, Adwr turned his horse casually around and trotted off toward the southern bridge with a group of officer's right behind him.

Atop the great plain overlooking Wild Horse Canyon, Sarpidon sat on his horse and watched the events of the battle below. He could see the endless hordes of Halidonia moving across the small plain that separated the river from the cliffs that led up to the "Green Belt". He could also see the stand of trees to the north where King Arion and his men had disappeared. The woods were now being surrounded by hundreds of Halidonian soldiers, making it abundantly clear that even had he sent troops to help Arion, it was assuredly true that they would have been killed along with Arion, who Sarpidon was sure was dead amongst the trees.

With the king dead, Sarpidon knew his primary concern was to defend the only pass leading up from the river and that was what he now did. His men were placed all along the rim of the canyon and well armed with hundreds of arrows. Any Halidonian foolish enough to enter the pass would be leaving his bones there to rot, for there was not a single place that a man could hide in that death trap.

But the Savarian defenders knew that it would be easy for the Halidonian dogs to simply stay out of range and perhaps have troops head back to the north to cross over at the main road bridge, then come up behind them. But this was their original plan and so far none of Sarpidon's scouts had seen any sign of a Halidonian force coming from the north. This made Sarpidon wonder, "What happened to Conan and his regiment?"

"General, look there!" yelled Roga. "Horsemen coming from the trees."

Sarpidon turned toward the trees on the far side of the river, where a large group of cavalry were emerging from the forest. Sarpidon's sharp eyes immediately recognized the large figure at the fore of the riders.

"Conan!" he breathed under his breath.

He watched them as they rode to the foot of the first of the rolling bridges and stopped. For a moment he was sure that Conan would have them turn tail and run, but then most of them charged across the river. But instead of attacking the Halidonian flank, Conan led them toward the stand of trees at the northern end of the battlefield.

A frightening thought came to Sarpidon's mind, "what if Arion was still alive!"

Sarpidon had no proof that Arion had fallen in battle, only a quick glimpse of a purple banner waving in amongst the trees and a horde of Halidonian's converging on the trees. It was possible that Arion was still alive down there.

"Roga, take a dozen archers to the cliffs above those trees, if there are any of our men there, provide whatever assistance you can to them. If you only find Halidonians there, feather them."

"Aye milord!" Roga replied as he turned to do his generals bidding.

Sarpidon turned back to the stand of trees where he saw Conan's troops surround the now disordered Halidonians and make short work of them. He saw Conan and a group of cavalry enter the trees, disappearing from site. Then another site caught his eye, the rolling bridges of the Halidonians were now aflame! Squinting thru the smoke and distance, Sarpidon spied what looked like Savarian soldiers setting the bridges alit. It was beginning to make sense to him now. Conan was going to cut off the Halidonians means of escape first, then attack them when they had no where to run! A brilliant strategy.

Sarpidon knew he had to be ready to attack the Halidonians once they turned to face Conan's onslaught, taking advantage of the exposed Halidonian flanks. He turned to his other officers and began issuing orders to attack the Halidonians once they turned to face Conan's assault. The time to make right is bad decision to leave Arion and set up a defensive perimeter on the cliffs of Wild Horse Canyon was at hand. Now all's he had to do was wait for Conan's attack.

He didn't have to wait long, because within a few minutes, the trees seemed to disgorge hundreds of Savarian cavalry. They moved out into a long line just past the tree line, five ranks deep and over a hundred men abreast. Sarpidon could see Conan's hulking figure at the center of the front rank and what looked to be a man wearing the uniform of a Savarian archery captain next to him.

"Kerbasi?" Sarpidon mumbled to himself. He had believed that the captain was dead since he had been so close to the river canyon when the rolling bridges were unleashed upon them. How could he have been so wrong about so many things?

He had no time for these kinds of thoughts right now. He had to get ready to lead his troops down thru the canyon and onward to victory.

Once Conan's cavalry was in formation, they began to move forward, slowly at first, then at a trot, then a gallop, until finally they were riding down on the Halidonians at a full run. The sound of some six hundred horsemen was a thing of beauty for the Savarians and a nightmare for the hapless Halidonians. Sarpidon saw the Halidonians begin to run back toward the river, first in small groups then in much larger one, then there was a wholesale flight for the river as the attackers became aware of the thundering death that was heading their way. It was time for Sarpidon to begin his own assault from above.

Conan and his men thundered across the battlefield on their warhorses, ready to exact a red vengeance upon the hated Halidonians. There would be little doubt that his troops would reap a bloody revenge on them, but would they be able to curb their bloodlust if they came upon the mad prince Adwr?

Would Conan be able to stop himself if he found the fool?

Only time would tell. For now, there was vengeance to be had and victory to seize.

As they came up over a small rise, Conan saw a group of riders moving quickly toward the bridges in an attempt to flee. At the center of this group, he saw Adwr.

Conan motioned for one of his sergeants to continue on with their attack on the main body of the Halidonian forces while he and a small contingent broke off from the regiment and went after Adwr and his cronies. The Halidonians were far enough ahead on Conan's group that if they could get across the river, they could very well get into the trees and make good their escape. Conan would not let this happen.

Adwr, Fateh and the rest of the officers of the Halidonian army were racing back across the battlefield trying to reach the safety of the far side of the river. They knew their attack had failed and that their army was being routed. None of this mattered thou. All that mattered to them was to escape! Adwr had come out of his madness it seemed and had now slipped into some sort of stupor. He hadn't said a word since telling Fateh to order the army to retreat and had ridden along as if he might tumble from his saddle at any time.

As they rode toward the bridges, several of the other officers, in fear of being caught by the Savarians, began pulling ahead of the prince and general. They planned on riding not back to the capital, but east to Turan where they could become mercenaries or thieves. But their plans came to an abrupt end as they suddenly began sprouting arrows from all over their bodies.

Seeing the fate that befell his men, Fateh grabbed the reins of Adwr's horse and pulled it to the side just as an arrow streaked down out of the sky and struck the man riding directly behind the prince in the throat. Adwr hardly seemed to notice as Fateh led his mount south along the river toward the last rolling bridge, which looked to still be intact. As they neared the bridge Fateh could indeed see that this bridge had not burned as badly as the others and was still passable. The two of them headed for the bridge with several others still following behind when several Savarian archers stood up from behind the wheels of the mammoth construct and began loosing shafts at them. Fateh was hit twice, once in the shoulder and once in the leg, just below the knee. He lost his grip on Adwr's reins and tumbled from his saddle. Adwr was also hit, once in left leg. This caused him to snap out of whatever malaise he had been suffering from and scream in pain. He too fell to the ground, landing hard and rolling to a stop beside a group of dead soldiers.

A few moments later, the sound of hoof beats could be heard coming closer. Fateh looked up from the ground to see a massive cavalry officer approaching him slowly. The man wore the uniform of a Savarian Captain, but one look at the mans face told Fateh that this was no Savarian.

"Who are you? You are not Savarian." Fateh asked.

"I am Conan, and no, I'm not Savarian. I'm Cimmerian."

"I have never seen your likes before." Fateh said, obviously suffering from his wounds and the fall. "What will you do with us now that you've won the day?"

"King Arion bids that we show all those who lay down their arms mercy." Conan said. "Those that resist are to be dealt with accordingly!"

"Arion is a fair man." Fateh said. Then he looked up at the Conan and gave him a hard look. "And what of Adwr? Is he to be given the same mercy as the rest?"

Conan glanced at the Halidonian prince, standing between two of his men that had dismounted and pulled him to his feet, then he returned the hard look and said to Fateh, "That is not up to me; I can only assure you that all those among your army that lay down their arms will be shown mercy and will be allowed to return to Halidonia."

"You shouldn't make promises that you don't have the authority the make my friend!" Sarpidon said as he rode up to where Conan sat. "I am the only one who has the authority to give these dogs back their lives."

"Is that so?" Conan said with a raised eyebrow. "I thought only the king had that authority …… general!"

"I'm sad to say that our beloved king fell in battle this day." Sarpidon said smugly. "That makes me the ultimate authority here and it is my order that all Halidonians are to be executed."

Having said that, Sarpidon drew his sword and moved forward to dispatch his injured counterpart. Only to be cut off by Conan, who had drawn his own sword and held it at the ready between Sarpidon and Fateh.

"What is this, you dare disobey my orders?" Sarpidon asked, surprised by his subordinates behavior.

"Aye! That is exactly what I'm doing general, because you're wrong. Arion is not dead, thou he was gravely wounded, he still lives." Conan told the general.

"Arion is alive?" Sarpidon said in shock. "I can't believe it. Where is he?"

"He's safe; I left him under the protection of a hundred of my men." Conan told him. "And his orders were to give mercy to all those that laid down their weapons. He also ordered that Adwr and his officers be taken alive to stand trial for their crimes."

"Trial! You must be joking!" Sarpidon blurted out. "Adwr murdered his own father, and then he tried to invade Savaria. There can be only one verdict for crimes of this sort and that is death! Why not slit their throats here and now and have done with it?"

"Because Arion said it was to be this way." Conan said indifferently, thou his blade never wavered. "If you have a problem with it ….. General, then I would suggest you take it up with Arion."

Sarpidon was enraged. How dare this barbarian lout tell him what to do with these prisoners? And how was it that Arion could still live? He had seen the Halidonian troops enter the trees in force! There could be no way Arion could have survived! But by some miracle, it seemed he had.

"I will, and be assured my friend, if I find that Arion did not give such an order, you'll have much to answer for!" Sarpidon said as he turned his mount around and rode off toward the north end of the battlefield thru the thousands of Halidonians that had given up their arms and were being moved toward the bridge leading back to Halidonia.

Conan turned to Captain Kerbasi and asked him if he would see to it that Fateh and Adwr were taken safely back to Stamitos. Kerbasi said he would and added, "It would seem my friend that you have made an enemy of our esteemed general. You should be very careful Conan. Sarpidon is not a man to be taken lightly."

Conan nodded his head slowly as he watched Sarpidon ride away.

"Neither am I my friend …… neither am I!"


End file.
